


A Pearl in the Rough

by opearlescent (slytherintbh)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, Suicide Attempt, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-09 00:22:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4326726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherintbh/pseuds/opearlescent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In some universes, there is only one survivor of a war. In this universe, this one survivor just so happens to be Pearl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Inside of a Box

The inside of a box is not something you want to wake up to every morning.

Unfortunately, Pearl did. 

As the sunlight crawled up the coast of Beach City and tickled the waters it also pooled into a large cardboard box behind the Big Donut, slowly rousing the gem inside from her slumber. It danced in front of her eyelids and tried to pull them open. Initially they refused to do so, trying to pretend that they were elsewhere, at another time. The illusion could not last long.

Pearl awoke and traced the subtle grain of her home with a long, curving finger. She stared directly into the bland shade of brown and drew it even more strongly into her memory, despite it already being firmly planted there. It sat alongside thousands of years of time and pictures that could never quite be shaken; the idea of creating memories of worth had long since been lost on the gem and instead she acted purely as she saw fit at the time. Now she remained looking resolutely forward in her apathy.

Maybe she would just stay in the box today. It was hardly as if anything else really required her attention... 

Sighing slightly, she pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes heavily, trying to force herself to wake and actually do something that day. Gently pressing her hair into something less of a mess, she considered the area around her. In the morning light it glowed golden, looking vaguely nice, even if it was simply a disused concrete square with a pair of large dustbins. Other boxes littered the ground. She would probably have to move into another one soon, if it rained again. It was a very good thing that the people of the town got through so many donuts, or she would have to sleep sat upright. That was never fun.

She shuddered at the memory of the last time that had happened. It wasn’t something she cared to think about. 

Extracting her legs from the box she stood dizzily, kneading her head and running a pensive hand over her gem. Perfectly whole as always. It warmed very slightly to the touch and emitted a soft glow. Healthy as could be. Pearl was slightly disappointed. Lanky arms and legs creaked slightly as she stretched herself out, reaching up into the sky. It never quite got rid of all the knots and pains in her back, yet she felt oddly positive as some of her worries left her.

Music began to pour out of the backroom of the diner and she pressed herself to the wall in a panic. Grit fell from the bricks as her palms pushed into them. A slightly high masculine voice began to complain about something or other, and a female one retorted back easily.

“Sadie, where are all the raspberry sprinkle donuts? I wanted one for breakfast, but they’re gone.”

“Oh, I don’t know Lars, maybe your ‘super cool not lame or boring’ friends ate them all when you gave them freebies yesterday. Also, what on the earth are you listening to?”

“Don’t you start. It’s Mr Universe, he’s like, classic rock, how could you not know him?”

“Well, you’ve never mentioned him before!”

The gem outside chortled inwardly. Every morning, a similar conversation would make its way through the gaps in the back door. Lars would whine, Sadie would reprimand him, and they would start arguing about something or other. Feeling a little safer, Pearl began to straighten out her green shirt and dust off her jeans, rubbing grime off her face and lamenting the donut crumbs that plagued every box she slept in. 

“For pity’s sake Lars, couldn’t you have thrown this box out last night? Oh - look - you didn’t even empty it properly, there’s still one left. And no, it’s not raspberry sprinkle!”

The door slammed open, making the gem squeak and jump round the corner in panic. A large brown box went flying through the air and landed with a skid next to the oversized bins, and an inquisitive head peered round. Blonde hair bounced around easily as Sadie studied the area, eventually resting her gaze on the box closest to the door. It quite clearly had imprints of a head and legs in it.

Pearl gasped and bit her lip, running nigh silently away down the boardwalk. Getting found and questioned now would not be ideal; she’d successfully remained unseen (mostly) for about… 3 years? Seasons acted as her clock so this was by no means accurate, but moving alleyways on occasion kept the workers of the diner from really noticing. Nobody questioned her presence as she strode down the rough boards every morning.

***

A loud cry of, “Oh the star man, how he touches the skies! Oh the man in the moon, how he flies!” filled the air. Lars’ singing was loud (at the very least), to the irritation of his coworker.

“Please stop with the singing, people will be arriving soon.” Sadie practised a comfortable smile and ran a hand over the counter; she winced as a single splinter dug itself into her palm and refused to budge.

Giving a derisive snort, Lars studied his fingernails. “No they won’t, it’s what, 8? Nobody else is going to be awake or moving save for us, and I’d rather not be, quite frankly -”

“Hum.” Sadie thought about the person she’d seen this morning, sucking at the splinter to try and remove it. They quite obviously were living it rough behind the diner, and she had caught several glimpses of them before but never actually been able to talk to them. They would be awake at this time. In fact, she and Lars had probably woken them up with all their arguing. Suddenly she felt rather inconsiderate and frowned, biting on a nail.

“- if we set up later then we’d not have to -”

Maybe she should try to talk to them? It was merely concern and nervousness that had prevented her from doing so already. Should she contact the past workers of the diner? The resident had been there since she started working a year ago, even if they would disappear from time to time. Perhaps she should go to work early tomorrow?

“- maybe if you would just -”

Or maybe she should offer to let them sleep in the backroom? It wasn’t like there was anything of worth in there, and they could hardly eat all of the shop produce by themselves. How should she approach them? Was food a good idea, or would they get offended? Surely anyone sleeping rough would be grateful for something to eat... 

“- are you even listening?”

Sadie jumped slightly and flushed, catching Lars’ gaze and uncomfortably noting his annoyance. Nodding, she looked out of the window to avoid his eyes and saw Connie coming just into view, making her way to the diner with a book clutched to her chest. A pastel blue dress swirled at her ankles and was slightly sodden on one side, as it often was, from the waves that lapped the rock pools at one point on the shore. 

“See, a customer! I told you so.” Sadie beamed and elbowed Lars as the bell rung and the young girl stepped in. “Morning Connie!”

“Hi,” Connie yawned. “I’ll have the usual, please!”

Lars began to scour the shelves for two chocolate donuts as Connie tapped expectantly on the glass display case, eyes slightly misted over as she focused on something sitting on a freezer shelf. The young woman at the counter considered the girl for a moment and smiled wanly at Connie’s sleepiness. “Anybody in there?” she teased, as a paper bag was dropped onto the wood of the counter with a light thud.

Blinking lightly, Connie handed over her money and giggled. “Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking, that’s all. I can’t focus properly on a morning.”

Sadie sighed and propped her head up with an arm. “I feel you…” An idea promptly popped into her head and she gasped audibly, making Lars look over and glare. “Say… did you see anybody else out and about this morning?”

Her co-worker snorted vehemently but Connie had taken on a pensive look. “Yeah, there was the lady on the boardwalk, but I always see her. Otherwise no.”

This made Lars frown and press his arms onto the wooden surface as he looked at Connie. Judging by the slightly startled and triumphant look on the face of the woman next to him, this was an answer that was both unexpected and informative; he personally hadn’t any memory of a ‘lady on the boardwalk’, but then, it wasn’t as though he saw the boardwalk that much during the day. Too busy with the diner. 

“What did she look like?” Sadie inquired, not noticing the way that Connie had begun to fiddle with the labeled paper bag.

“She was tall, quite pretty. Always wearing the same dark green long-sleeve shirt and jeans, as far as I know.” The girl finally gave in and opened up the bag, pulling out an iced confectionery and biting into it with a satisfied gulp. Mouth half full, she continued to speak. “If you look at her forehead she has this… thing on it. It looks like a big gemstone or something - it’s weird. She’s very unique though, you’ll know it’s her if you see her.”

That had to be them. Surely there was nobody else that the mystery woman could be, other than the Big Donut’s unofficial resident. Okay, so maybe she sounded better dressed than Sadie expected, but sometimes things surprised you. 

“Thanks Connie,” she said, grinning genuinely as a plan began to form in her mind. “You can have your next donut on the house, if you want.”

Slightly confused by the overly generous gesture, Connie nodded and began to make for the door. Outside the sun was just beginning to beat down with a vengeance, and the sounds of Beach City were increasing as stores opened and the people went out into the streets. “Thank you Sadie, Lars. See you soon!” The bell on the door tinkled cheerfully and the door shut with a gentle swish.

“What was that about?” 

The clerk blinked and looked up at her coworker with a frown. Lars was squinting, and he did so for a moment before shaking his head and turning away. “Nevermind,” he murmured apathetically. “You won’t tell me the truth anyway.”

Sadie went back to picking at the splinter now buried even further in her palm, frowning.

***

Elsewhere, a gem was sat, exhausted, on a warp pad. Already her hair was out of place and the chill of the stone was such that even she could feel it in her legs and palms, burning impressions into her body. Naturally, she was aware that they had been designed that way. It still didn’t feel normal, even with this knowledge. All she was used to feeling was the ache of a body that has stayed in the wrong position for too long, night after night.

Grime and dust streaked her face wildly, finger tracks and random flecks criss-crossing here and there. Heavy bags had appeared under her eyes; she carded her fingers through her hair for the hundredth time. 

“I need to make more filler,” she muttered. “More filler. Then check the fragmentation on the opposite side.”

Desperate, she looked up at the stars and gave a sorrowful chirrup. The fact that the warp station had been designed such that you could always see space was both helpful and annoying for Pearl - it reminded her of what she was working for, but also reminded her just how far away success was. When she had helped Rose destroy the warps near the end of the war, it never once crossed her mind that one day she would be working to set them up again. Or that Rose wouldn’t be -

Well. That wasn’t really a good train of thought to follow. Not right now.

Pearl clasped her hands in front of her and studied the skies. “I’ll find something out there. I have to.”


	2. First Contact

As Sadie locked up the diner, she felt a chill run down her back and spread through the ground. It was a cold night, as autumn was just about sweeping in, and she sighed at the thought of the visitor sleeping alone with the swiftly dropping temperature. Although she highly doubted that they would come back at this time, she checked the back of the diner anyway. 

Five empty boxes, two large bins and no signs of life. Sadie sighed.

As she walked home she admired the clear sky and the stars that twinkled so resolutely up there. A part of her had always wanted to go to space - it was a tiny part, but it was determined to settle itself into her heart. Maybe all humans had this desire, Sadie didn’t know. She certainly wasn’t going to ask Lars about it… 

Sometimes, when she was little, she would sit with her father in the back garden at midnight and talk about work and school and the merits of ice cream. He certainly hadn’t borne her love of night time, yet those nights had to have helped. 

Tears pooled in her eyes and she stopped in the middle of the pavement, wiping them away. It did no good to cry. 

Dots of water continued to fall onto her coat, confusing the woman momentarily. Her eyes felt less heavy, and she certainly wasn’t crying anymore. It had to be something else. A couple of small rainclouds had marred the otherwise empty skies and were loosening their loads onto Beach City, only just drizzling now but threatening to become more potent. “Oh no,” she muttered, lamenting the lack of a hood or umbrella on her person. The rain became more determined in its attack.

“But the lady!” she groaned, mind flipping quickly back to the diner. Should she go back? She had nothing to offer though, and no guarantee that there’d even be anyone there. Dithering, Sadie continued on her path, nibbling uncertainly on her lip.

When Sadie finally got indoors, she grasped the phone immediately. A shout sounded from the front room.

“Hi honey, how was your day?” 

“Fine mom, I’m just making a call. Could you turn the TV down for a moment?” The ‘Little Butler’ theme tune decreased in volume and the phone began to dial.

“Come on, come on…” there was a click, and a quiet ‘hello?’ from the speaker. “Oh good, hello, it’s Sadie here!”

“Oh wow, Sadie! Long time no hear! How’s the diner doing?” This made the young woman chuckle - Lana had always been the type for business first and catching up second. “Lars not giving you any trouble, I hope?”

Sadie gave a huff of laughter. “No, he’s the same as always. Although, I do have a question to ask, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course not! Fire away.”

It took Sadie a moment to phrase her question correctly, and even when she had, she wasn’t entirely happy with the result. “When you were working in the diner, you didn’t happen to notice any kind of any uh, resident, did you? As in, round the back?”

There was a pause. “Do you mean the green shirt lady?” Lana laughed, voice all gravel. “Yeah, we noticed her. Never could get her to talk to us though. Vicky and I tried to get her attention multiple times, but she’d just disappear earlier and earlier each morning to avoid us. I think she turned up a month or two into our work. Just over three years ago.”

“That’s much more information than I expected! Thanks. How is Vicky doing, anyway?” Sadie’s mind was firmly made up; she grinned widely as she twirled the phone cord around her index finger.

“She’s fine, although she’s whining about having to choose a wedding ring for me. Reckons she’ll get it wrong and I’ll never talk to her again.”

“Congratulations on that, by the way! I never thought the two of you would finally settle down…”

***

The clouds outside had now begun to gather into a more severe clump, blocking out the stars almost entirely and battering the houses with a heavy downpour. Pearl was finding it increasingly difficult to ignore the sodden state of her clothes and the way that her hair was more reminiscent of a dishcloth than anything else, hanging in an odd curtain around the back of her neck. No box for her tonight, of that she could be sure. Once again, it would be huddling up against a bin, fighting against her aches and the nightmares that plagued her.

There was one positive side to rain, Pearl decided. It made it impossible to tell whether or not you were crying.

Lights flickered on in houses, warmth seeped out from under doors and cracks in the windows. The boards of the walkway were slippery with a mixture of rainwater and the accumulating slime of the sea. Even her heightened senses were out of balance due to the enhanced smell she gained thanks to the rain. Pearl supposed that she should be used to the raw nature of the planet by now, but she still missed organisation. 

She missed the Homeworld. That thought would have been appalling to her were it not for the looming night ahead, and the bins. They smelt so bad. Why did humans eat anyway?

Dragging her feet, Pearl made her way around the diner to the very back and considered her options. There was a singular dry spot where the lid of one of the bins had been left open, providing a square of untouched ground. “I suppose this will have to suffice,” she croaked, pretending that the wobble of her voice was due to exhaustion rather than the burning sensation behind her eyes. Slowly, she lowered herself below the lid and switched her clothes for a dry set.

Lying down on the hard concrete, she imagined the room that Rose had always promised her. Originally, she had wanted it to be water based, with large fountains of some sort. After having to sleep through so many storms, she now wanted a room that was completely devoid of moisture. Maybe made out of mattresses.

“Goodnight Rose,” she whispered into the darkness. “Here’s to hoping that I don’t dream tonight.”

Pearl did not, in fact, dream, but the rain whipped itself into a frenzy, occasionally breaching the dry area where the gem was curled up and discolouring tiny patches of her clothing. The sun had not yet risen when she was awoken by a slight shaking of her shoulder.

Sadie hadn’t really known what to expect when she arrived at work at about 6 in the morning, but it wasn’t to be waking a total stranger from their slumber by nudging them with her foot. Something in her had reasoned that they would have been long gone, yet here she was, the woman she had only ever caught glimpses of. Connie was right, they were beautiful, hair shaped into a slightly mussed pixie-cut and wide eyes pulled tightly shut. Their clothing was somehow mostly dry, and their skin ghostly white, nearing grey. Oddest of all about them was the large white oval on her forehead, which it took a lot of work for the woman not to touch as she set about getting them up.

Pearl could barely comprehend the idea of something other than the sun making her rise from the floor, especially after such a bad night. So when a large figure loomed over her and began to jostle her from her position, panic immediately set in and she jumped up, pressing herself against the metal of the bin, eyes not adjusting to the sunlight.

“It’s okay, I don’t want to hurt you,” the woman insisted, voice slightly terrified. The gem recognised it as Sadie’s, and calmed slightly. “I brought some food. Well, it’s just donuts actually, but I thought that’d be a good breakfast, and I also have some tea.” A flask was shaken half-heartedly.

“O-oh,” Pearl gasped, trying to maintain a smile and failing. “I uh, don’t eat. I must be going.”

“Wait, no, don’t go!” Sadie attempted to block the path but Pearl slipped easily out and took a quick glance at the irritated woman, noting how her hair looked much nicer when it wasn’t at an angle and hanging out of a backdoor. “I know you don’t eat, that’s why I brought food! You would be eating if you had somewhere to live.”

The gem sighed loudly as Sadie swivelled around. “You misunderstand me. I mean I don’t eat - ever. Please leave me alone.”

Striding into the distance, Pearl heard the distinct sound of the flask being dropped to the floor, along with the paper bag of donuts. It was a nice gesture, of course, but not very helpful. Another alleyway was probably calling, for weeks or months this time.

This was why moving was so important, the gem mentally berated. Humans did so enjoy getting… involved. 

***

Sadie groaned loudly and rubbed a hand over her exhausted eyes. It was too early for her to really be functioning properly and she hadn’t even put up any kind of a fight, letting the woman run away without so much as getting her name. For a second, she debated chasing her, if only to find out that one piece of information. There was no point. With the length of those legs, a chase could only end one way. 

Leaving the food and drink where it had hit the ground, Sadie turned back to the diner and swore that she’d catch the woman tomorrow, and do so properly. For now though, she would empty another box and leave it outside, under the bins this time so it wouldn’t get soggy.

On which note, the others were gross. She’d have to move them.

Sadie laughed wryly and headed into the diner, scoping out the backroom with an easy eye. Aside from the section of wall where the incident had occurred, it wasn’t so bad, with a television to keep one occupied and more donuts than any person could eat by themselves. Besides, apparently this person didn’t eat. Maybe she could convince them to come in?

“What are you doing here so early?”

Swivelling round in a panic, Sadie caught sight of Lars. He was standing in the corner of the room, hands on hips, eyes digging into her. He really wasn’t the person she wanted to have around for this.

“I could ask the same of you,” she responded lightly. “I’m dedicated to my work, that’s all.”

Lars laughed a little raucously and shook his head. “You were looking for that woman, weren’t you!” His voice squeaked noticeably on the last word and he blushed angrily, twisting his head to the side. “I knew there was something off yesterday. You barely spoke to me!”

“I… yes Lars, I was, but it’s nothing to worry about!” Her hands were flailing slightly of their own accord. 

“Right. Of course. Couldn’t you have at least told me? We do work together.”

“Sorry.” If her wry grin seemed uncomfortable, Lars didn’t mention it, instead choosing to make his way into the main room. A small post it had been left on the counter, acting as a reminder that they owed Connie a donut and that one of the freezers needed repairing.

It really did break a lot, Sadie mused. Perhaps they should just get a new one. Especially since that new line of ice creams had just come out, replacing the old cookie cat ones. The main branch had decided that stocking up on the new product would promote the company just as much as it would the ice cream, so the boxes that had arrived were much bigger than usual. In fact, they should probably empty them before the freezer packed up entirely.

“Did you see her then?” Lars was munching conspiratorially on a donut, tapping at the register with ease. He twisted a slightly grotesque smile. “Was she cute?”

“Yes, I did see her. She ran away. And she was - it’s none of your business!” Now it was Sadie’s turn to go red. Her co-worker did so enjoy to see her get flustered over girls, even though she had clearly stated that she didn’t really have a massive preference either way. Although the woman had been quite pretty. “It’s not as though I’m likely to see her again. I think I just scared her off.”

He gulped as Sadie leaned heavily on the counter and plucked at her purple shirt listlessly. “Oh, uh, sorry?”

“‘Was she cute?’ Man, you have awful priorities. This person is living rough and you ask if she’s cute?” The clerk rested her head on her hands. “I just want to help them out. Talk to them.”

***

For all Sadie couldn’t get the gem out of her head, Pearl was very decidedly pushing down any thoughts about that morning. Pausing halfway down the beach, she looked over at the cliff face and turned, making a rare spontaneous decision to take a rest for that day. “Besides, it’s not like the warps are getting fixed quickly. After last night, I should take some time out.” She stepped off the rough boards and onto the sand with precise and uneasy movements.

The cliff face was sheer, and crumbling. Kneeling on the sand, Pearl considered the rough formations in the stone; she couldn’t help but carve the image of the temple into the stone in her mind. It would have been a beautiful and almost natural architectural feat. Now, however, the shore was lined with caves and crevices, the initial ease of building lost as the sea carved up the rocks. Some were only known to the gem through the necessary nature of exploring when on a mission.

Not that Pearl did those anymore, of course. That was a phase that had lasted for far too long without any payback.

“I need to practice,” she barked, surprising herself with the harshness of her words. “I need to fight.”

Sputtering slightly, her gem began to glow as she stood, forming a hologram version of herself just a metre before her. It was freeing to pull her body into the correct stance, summon her weapon and feel that nudge of excitement that had been missing for so long. 

“Do you wish to engage in combat?”

Pearl smirked and bowed her head. “Let this be the perfect battle.” It was so corny, but the hologram didn’t mind. It merely summoned a spear and crouched slightly in preparation.

“You’ve made a mistake in challenging me!” 

Immediately the spears met with a clash, both fighters driving to force the other back. “We’ll see about that,” Pearl grunted, giving a final push and sending the opponent flailing. A sharp blade swung at her feet, forcing the gem to backflip away and reposition herself as the enemy began a relentless storm of parries, looking for an opening in her stance. As the hologram made to pierce her torso, Pearl managed to throw herself with some grace onto the sands and thrust her own weapon straight through its back. It flickered.

“Advanced mode beaten. Challenger wins!” With a moment of clicking, the light dissipated into strands, leaving the gem alone.

“Well.” Pearl wiped her brow and knelt neatly on the ground, looking out to sea. Her spear also dematerialised, sparkling in the morning sun. “That took even less time than I expected. I’ve still got it.”

The waters lapped at her knees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfic now has a mix, mostly for personal writing purposes, but feel free to check it out if you want. Listen here: http://8tracks.com/mimbltn/a-pearl-in-the-rough


	3. Promised Fountains

Pearl couldn’t help but blink in surprise when she arrived at the diner.

It must have been very late, with the town so absolutely silent and motionless. Yet, there in the square, illuminated by cheap orange light, was a large box and the items brought by Sadie that morning. They had been neatly lined up next to the cardboard sides of the box, which read ‘Lion Lickers - THIS WAY UP’ in thick black ink. It was about twice the size of the donut boxes and largely covered up by the protective bin lid that hung out over the edge.

The gem didn’t know what to think. 

It was thoroughly confusing, to suddenly have attention turned to you after so many years alone. Even if it was from a human. Ignoring the donuts, Pearl grabbed the flask and opened it doubtfully. Sticking her nose partially in, the liquid smelled decent and was still vaguely warm.

“I don’t know why I’m doing this…” sniffing nervously, she took a quick sip. It wasn’t half bad, actually. Sort of balmy and refreshing all at once. “Hmmmm.” 

Emboldened, she drew a proper gulp of the tea, sighing into the metal of the flask contentedly. Unlike food, it didn’t settle uncomfortably within her. The bag went completely ignored as she lowered herself into the box, noting the presence of a blanket lining the bottom, continuing to nurse the tea with a steady hand and renewed sense of wellbeing. Human meddling did have its merits, it seemed.

As her eyes slowly began to weigh more heavily and her gem began to fizz slightly, Pearl drained the last of her drink and cradled her head with her arms. With the lid of the bin overhead, only a sliver of the night sky was visible; it was still enough for the gem to be able to map out the location of every star in the sky according to her position. You learned these things when you had millennia of time on your hands. Mercury was fairly visible in the deepening twilight. Jupiter would probably make an appearance soon, also. It weighed on Pearl somewhat that these planets were so inhospitable. Their beauty tugged at her.

No planetary travel until the warp pads were finished, Pearl reminded herself. Vowing to renew her efforts the next day, she pulled her legs in tightly and drifted off to sleep.

***

“Pearl!” 

The gem was standing on the beach, clothes being whipped around by the strong winds that occasionally hit the area. Stuttering slightly against the heavy force, Pearl turned, catching sight of the source of the voice. Even in the localised sandstorm, Rose Quartz seemed unruffled, dress dancing lightly, curls bobbing up and down.

Rose smiled gently and offered her hand. “Come on, my Pearl. It’s dangerous out here. You should come into the temple, Garnet and Amethyst are waiting!”

Taking her hand gladly, they made their way over to the towering statue, Rose using her shield as a sand block. Grains hit its pink surface and flew off at various trajectories. Many seemed to almost hit Pearl, twisting away at the last moment; she didn’t really pause to consider this when the warm weight of Rose’s palm was in her own. 

They reached the inside of the temple - it was a cave, practically, with a singular door and a warp pad. Looking over at Rose (who was watching her shield disappear with a gentle smile), Pearl couldn’t help but question her own choice in clothing. It seemed oddly human in comparison to the beauty of the white ruffled dress and mass of bouncing pink curls. Frowning, she picked at her shirt. Maybe she would change it.

The warp pad gave a bright chirruping cry.

Garnet materialised, with Amethyst under her arm. “Pearl!” she exclaimed happily. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere. Amethyst was worried.”

The tiny gem jumped out from Garnet’s arms and clutched Pearl’s neck, grinning widely. “Missed you, P.” Pearl managed to detach her and hold her at arm's length, laughing brightly at the mad mess of white wispy hair atop the girl’s head. Then she saw the outfit Amethyst was wearing and her smile faltered.

“Why are you wearing your clothes from the war?” the tall gem questioned, glancing over at Garnet who, too, was bearing the old pink diamond insignia.

Garnet shrugged. “Rose hasn’t changed either, Pearl. We didn’t see any point in it. We’ve discussed this before, are you feeling alright there?”

“Yeah P, did you lose ya brain when you went missing?” Amethyst wriggled out of her grip, dropping to the floor on all fours and inspecting her legs, namely the dark blue denim that covered them tightly. “This stuff’s weird. Where’d you see it?”

Rose laughed and stepped up to the warp pad, resting an arm on Pearl’s shoulders. She gestured towards the door, which seemed to blur and spin slightly before the eyes, the five gems melting together before jumping back into focus. “Go on Pearl, go and take a look at your room. We finally made the adjustments you wanted, remember?”

“The fountains?” It was hard to keep excitement out of her voice as she pictured it. “Or… wait, wasn’t it beds?” Something in the back of her mind jarred, only to be soothed by Rose’s dulcet tones.

“Don’t you worry about it, my Pearl, you’ll understand when you see it.”

Feeling oddly nervous under the gaze of the other gems, Pearl stepped up to the door and tried to open it. At first nothing happened, gem resolutely dormant, until a burst of panic set it glowing brightly. The corresponding gem on the door lit up, bathing the surrounding crystals in white light that reflected throughout the tiny cave. Garnet whispered something, and Rose giggled in response. The door finally complied, opening up widely, and Pearl stepped into her room to find - 

Nothing.

A gaping chasm stood before her, of a depth that she couldn’t guess. Only a small stone ledge prevented her from tumbling into the bowels of the hole. Confused, she looked back at Rose, nerves gradually increasing, pressure building behind her gem.

“Wh-what?” she asked, eyes darting around and voice wobbling. “I don’t understand.”

“Yes you do, Pearl. You just don’t want to.” Rose stepped in, pushing Pearl further towards the end of the ledge. Garnet and Amethyst disintegrated behind her, door slamming shut.

“You killed us Pearl.” The whisper reverberated around the curves of the chasm, echoing over and over. “You killed Garnet, Ruby and Sapphire. You killed tiny, innocent Amethyst. You killed me. Beautiful, perfect me, who you died for over and over, and it wasn’t enough for you, was it? What, couldn’t save me, so you destroyed me instead?”

In one swift movement she grabbed Pearl’s shirt roughly with both hands, holding her over the ledge. It took all of Pearl’s willpower to remain looking forward rather than down. Not that it was much better, seeing the shining eyes of her dearest love become so cold. 

“You loved me,” Rose muttered, face shadowed by her hair. “You lived for me, and now I’m dead. So why are you alive?”

Rose’s grip faltered ever so slightly, and Pearl screamed, trying desperately to grasp onto Rose’s arms for more stability. “No,” she sobbed, gem now feeling as though it were going to crack under all the pressure. “No, please, no, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I should be dead, not you, never you. I love you.”

For a moment, it seemed as though it had worked. The arms drew her back in, pulling the two faces up against one another. It took all of Pearl’s willpower not to cry with relief. 

Rose grimaced. “Too late,” she hissed.

Her body began to disintegrate into dust, flinging Pearl into the abyss as one final act before she became no more. The darkness was overwhelming, terrifying, and Pearl found herself wishing that she would hit the bottom quickly. Then it could all be over with.

***

Sadie was unsurprised when she found the box empty that morning, chewing at her cheek in disappointment nonetheless. Both the flask and bag were still there. She picked them up with huff, only to find the flask significantly lighter. She twisted the lid off and looked inside.

Empty.

Well, there was at least one thing that the woman liked.

Vowing to make more, Sadie entered the back room, looking for any sign of Lars before she relaxed. He wouldn’t make an early appearance two days in a row, she knew this. Besides, he had only come to catch her out the day before. Which he had managed to do. Stretching widely, she found a second flask, filled both up with boiling hot tea, and stationed them by the box with a hopeful air about her. This could continue. Leave some tea, maybe primp up the box a bit, wait for a day when there was somebody asleep inside it, rather than finding it conspicuously empty.

Sadie hadn’t really noticed just how single minded she was becoming on this issue, until roundabout midday when Lars had to jolt her out of her thoughts for the seventh time.

“Honestly Sadie, you get way too invested in stuff. Most people are capable of - y’know - thinking about more than one topic in a day.” Lars’ tone was so bitter that Connie looked up from the page she was reading at the indoor table and blinked, book almost falling from her grasp. “It’s weird. You should try to be a bit more like Jenny, loosen up.”

Flushing, Sadie continued to wipe the glass of the display case that she had been working on. Embarrassed tears had sprung too easily to her eyes and it took a lot of sneaky arm movements to wipe them away.

“It’s okay Sadie, I do that too,” Connie called out, lying her book flat on the table with pages spread. “I spent all of last week feeling awful because of something that happened in Unfamiliar Familiar.” 

“Yeah but Connie, you’re like, a nerd. Cool people are way too chill to get hung up on stuff like books, or ladies in boxes, for that matter.” Lars had to narrowly avoid Sadie’s arm swinging at his head, giving a loud yelp in surprise. “Oi, watch what you’re doing! We’re at work, if you can’t remember!”

Sadie was fuming. “How dare you be so rude to a customer! I’m sorry Connie, I’ll put you down for another free donut.” The girl chuckled and shrugged, picking up her book and burying her nose in it once more. 

As the clerk made yet another note about this new debt, Lars rolled his eyes heavily and set about making himself a cup of coffee. The machine sputtered angrily in protest, responding only to a sharp smack to the side and a couple of choice words directed at it in a harsh undertone. Two eyes peered over the top of a book, glasses shifting slightly as Connie raised her eyebrows in disapproval. For somebody with very few friends, she sure had an attitude. Lars found it unbearably annoying to have to answer to a ten year old.

“Can’t you make her leave?” he hissed, stalking back to his position behind to counter. “She’s putting me off my work.”

“If you get riled by a child, this may not be the right job for you, Lars. I rather like her.” 

There was a mutter about ‘girls all being in it together’ but no argument. He would just have to take the victory of having diverted Sadie’s attention from her bizarre project - she was so boring when she wasn’t arguing. 

*** 

Pearl had awoken with a jolt, possibly screaming. She wasn’t quite sure. 

The sun hadn’t even been close to rising, but she had risen anyway, pelting over the beach and towards the main warp station with very little in her mind other than sharp spiking fear. Must work on the warp pads, she had to get to work, or the dream would come back again. Pearl would be a murderer again. Thoughts continued to bombard her until she had to stop and hold her gem, attempting to relieve the painful throbbing around it.

Headaches weren’t something typical in gems. Technically, it wasn’t even a headache, per se, but the location of her gem made for an unfortunate similarity in symptoms. Aspirin had proved an effective cure in the past… finding an open pharmacist at this time however…

This always happened after a nightmare, without fail.

Pearl had yet to work out why this was the case, as well as why human medicine had any effect on her whatsoever. The current theory was that, having nowhere else to go, the drugs were sent directly to the gem. As for the headaches, well, it could just be overexertion. Trauma, even. Having suffered the effects of PTSD for the first few hundred years after the war, she was unwilling to rule out any option completely.

Thankfully, the ache began to lessen and she was able to continue on her way to the warp station, pulling items out of her gem in premature readiness. If she could get back out into space, she could move on. She could even get out of the habit of sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter didn't want to happen. Sorry if it's a bit shoddy (I'm not thrilled with it) but hopefully it'll push me out of my miniature writer's block.


	4. Pretty Cool

“C’mon in you guys, it’s clean this time, I swear.” 

Lars peered nervously through the door of Sour Cream’s room, the slightly mocking chuckles of Vidalia still playing out in his head. They had met briefly in the kitchen, with the conversation somehow resulting in some rather puny flexing of muscles. She had found his put-on confidence very amusing indeed, but hopefully endearing rather than annoying, as she had slapped him heartily on the back and waved him upstairs with a paintbrush. 

“Go on up,” she laughed, hoisting Onion up onto her hip with practised ease. “Don’t hesitate to grab a snack if you need to.”

Now he rather wished he had taken one of the many bags of crisps or apples lying out on the side in the kitchen, stomach rumbling audibly. He’d not taken any food from the diner since that morning; much as theft was wrong, it sure did help you get through the day. Sadie’s level glare had been enough to convince his arm to remove itself from a donut box and clean up a coffee spillage outside. Connie had laughed into her book as he passed, muttering something about being ‘wrapped around her finger’. 

He was sure that Connie had once had a nice, quiet personality. Maybe she still did, outside of the diner. Too much time spent with the two workers had obviously let her become a bit more bold. 

“Come on Lars, what you standing around for?” Jenny’s lips were pulled into a rather sour expression, eyes boring into him in that odd way girls could. 

“Oh uh, sorry,” he gasped, watching as Buck threw himself unceremoniously on the bed. He stepped in, looking around. The room was small, although it probably looked smaller than it actually was due to the insane amount of DJ equipment that lined the walls and floor. Wires crisscrossed over the blue carpet, snaking to various devices and under the bed (which had been pushed right up to the farthest wall, in a bid to free up space). Light poured in from the window above where Buck now lay. What Lars liked most about it, however, was the line of clear fairy lights that seemed to adorn every surface. It would look rad in the night time.

“Checking out my pad?” Sour Cream asked, glancing over at Lars before fiddling with a large soundboard. “The stuff in here cost a ton, so be careful man. I mean, I got it from my ass of a dad, but it’s still super awesome. Wouldn’t want anything getting damaged.”

Lars snorted. “Pff, yeah, I’m co-ordinated. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” He promptly caught his foot on a cable and had to quickly regain his balance, an embarrassed flush rising to his cheeks.

Flashing his glasses in Lars’ direction, Buck snorted. “Yeah, we can see that.” 

Jenny sighed, pulling Lars over and onto the bed where he landed in a flurry of limbs, legs laying over Buck’s motionless form. It elicited no response save for a slight raising of eyebrows, so obviously this was okay. He managed to pull himself up comfortably, stealing a cushion to put between his back and the wall. Jenny sat next to him, watching Sour Cream lean back in his favourite office chair. Music began to blast from one of the numerous sets of speakers. It was a remix of some popular song, nothing that Lars new, only recognisable thanks to the catchy beat. The sound melted easily into the background.

“Epic,” the DJ muttered. “This is my best mix. So, what do you guys wanna talk about?”

“Swag.” 

Huffing, Jenny rolled her eyes and glared at Buck. “You say that every single time! A joke isn’t funny if you’ve told it hundreds of times.”

“Say that to Pepe,” he replied, but his grin quickly dissolved. “Seriously though, I have no idea. I thought we were just chilling. Keeping it cool.”

“We are!” she shot back. “Considering that we have company, I thought we’d try be sociable. A foreign idea to you, I know.”

The young Dewey gave a loud huff, obviously not having any proper retort. Instead, he rolled onto his side and called out to Sour Cream. “So dude, any more money from Marty recently?”

Flicking a couple of switches, the boy grimaced. “Nope, although he’s tried to send some. I mean, he’s rolling in it, so it’s hardly any effort to send a couple of hundred a month. That’s what you get for being a manager. Apparently Mr Universe is planning another album soon.” He smirked. “More DJ gear.”

“Your Dad knows Mr Universe?” Lars hadn’t paused to regulate his excitement, pushing up from the mattress quickly. He quickly realised his mistake. “That is to say, that would be kinda cool. Or whatever.”

This earned him a steady stare. “Sure does. Not that I’ve ever met him, like. Or Marty, for that matter.” Another set of switches were flicked on, and a couple of sliders found themselves moving upwards.

Suddenly, there was a noticeably loud bass drop and the room shook. A loud thump, followed by angered and indecipherable shouting, sounded up the stairs. The volume of the music decreased a touch, various dials changing as Sour Cream simultaneously moved to close his door, clearly irritated. “Yellowtail won’t get off my back recently, it wasn’t even that loud. I think he’s in denial about me not wanting to be a fisherman or whatever.” He smoothed his hair and fell back into the arms of his chair. “As if it were ever an option.”

Delighted to have some knowledge about this, Lars straightened his back. “Just let him be a DJ!” he shouted, receiving a loud echo from the rest of the group and collective laughter. The girl next to him smirked and dug at his ribs.

“What about you, huh? You’re so busy all the time, what’s been going on?”

Taken aback by the sudden attention, Lars just shrugged uncertainly. “Well, not much really. Diner things. You know.” He plucked at his purple shirt as if to add to his response.

Jenny was not accepting such a lackluster reply. “Okay, fair enough. What about Sadie? How’s she doing?”

“Ugh, she’s still on my back all the time, won’t give me any time off. It’s probably due to that stunt I pulled last month.” Lars didn’t remember it fondly; his careless attitude to her feelings had left the two of them with a lot of uncomfortable silences and jabs about his back. That’s what you got for faking an injury. “I mean, other than that, she’s fine. Kind of obsessed with this lady though. It’s really boring.”

“Come on man, you can’t leave us hanging like that,” Buck intoned in the cool apathetic voice that Lars so envied. “Tell us about this chick. Is it her girlfriend? Because I thought you guys were dating.”

Once again, Lars could feel his cheeks flaming wildly and struggled to form a coherent reply. “No! To both things. Sadie and I are just friends. The woman is some weird homeless person who sleeps behind the diner in one of the old boxes. She’s got this massive… thing on her head. Sadie seems determined to befriend her or something, I dunno. It’s really weird.” He turned to Jenny, hoping for her to agree, but she seemed put out by his words. 

“I dunno, Lars, that sounds really nice of her! Besides, maybe the lady is cute. Sadie’s a sensible girl.” She studied the grumpy look on his face. “You’re jealous.” Lars tried to argue and was met with a finger to his lips. “Girls know these things, it’s instinctual.”

He sulked for a moment and muttered under his breath. Sour Cream continued to fiddle with the soundboard, turning slightly to the side to talk. 

“You should talk to Ronaldo or something, bro. He’s all about weird stuff like that, he’d like, totally dig it.” Buck snorted in response.

“Ronaldo is lame. I wouldn’t talk to him if you paid me.” Repositioning his glasses, he shifted his legs slightly, making both Lars and Jenny jump a bit before settling back into the duvet. “With his blog and all that stuff? I dunno man, it’s kind of creepy. Makes me nervous. Right, Lars?”

The boy chuckled uneasily. “Yeah, super creepy.” His voice squeaked on the last word, making him gulp in irritation and cough. “He’d probably stalk her, or something.”

“Y’all are so mean,” Jenny said, but she was grinning. “Now come on Sour Cream, put on something fun! I wanna dance!”

Already shaking her sides to the beat, Jenny pulled both boys from the bed and onto the floor, managing to pull wild moves in the cramped space. At first Lars was uncomfortable, considering the company he was keeping (he was so out of their league!), eventually finding his rhythm and giving a carefree cheer. A hundred tiny fairy lights flickered on, making up for the decreasing natural light outside and giving the room an oddly ethereal glow.

Lars was so happy he could almost feel it knot up in his chest, oddly painful in its intensity. “Thanks for having me over, and all that,” he shouted over the music.

“No worries!” was the reply. “You’re pretty cool, Lars.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back from Belgium! Stuff is really gonna pick up next chapter, including some interaction with our mysterious alleyway gem.


	5. The Deep End

Pearl found that she woke up later and later with each morning that passed, the sky going from a rich deep blue to the gentle pink of a sunrise. Every time she cursed internally, promising to rise earlier the next day despite her increasingly late bedtime.

One week later, she found herself awaking to the bright white sunlight of early morning. A gentle warmth had enveloped her without her knowledge, keeping her deep within her slumber, hands clutching at the blanket that lined the bottom of her box. Surprisingly, her dreams had consisted solely of space; skies and stars that rotated and twisted, occasionally glimmering pink or purple. It was only when the sun had reached a level of brightness that was impossible to ignore that she awoke.

Sadie was standing over her.

The small woman’s eyes looked to be glazed over in wonder, staring at the inside of the box. Her gaze shifted upwards slightly, to the face of Pearl (who was swearing as loudly as one could internally swear), hands meeting just in front of the donut logo on her stomach.

“It was glowing,” she whispered. “Why does it glow?”

Oh, crap.

Pearl managed to disentangle her set of lanky arms and legs, sitting upright in the box. A hand found itself rubbing irritably at her eyes. Sleep could be so damn unhelpful at times; if Pearl weren’t in dire need of more energy during the day then she wouldn’t bother at all. Thankfully, Sadie seemed to be returning back to normal, blinking frequently before refocusing on the gem’s face.

“You’re still here,” she said, chuckling nervously. “What made you stay?”

Sighing, Pearl realised there was no running away from this one. An odd streak of curiosity wanted to keep her there. “I didn’t mean to wake up so late. Don’t think of this as a success.”

Sadie was undeterred. “You’ve been drinking the tea I leave out.” She offered a hand to the irritable gem, who took it and lifted herself up from the box. Immediately, Pearl’s pale face turned to the boardwalk, pointed nose even more pronounced in the morning light. The clerk panicked. 

“Don’t run away! Please, I just want to talk to you. For a little while. Then you can go off and do… whatever it is you do when you disappear.” 

“I don’t suppose I have a choice,” came the reply, muttered but not too unkind. “Okay. I’ll answer your questions, but after that, you’re not to bother me any more. I appreciate your concern, I really do, it’s just not necessary.”

Sadie wasn’t in the present moment again, instead staring at her gemstone, face twisted in thought. After a second, it lit up in comprehension and she gasped victoriously, sending seagulls pounding up into the air. “It’s a pearl!” she cried in sudden recognition.

She didn’t notice the shudder that this elicited, nor did Sadie note the slightly ashamed look that clouded the woman’s eyes. Pearl shook her head. Now was really not the time to go into a reverie about such things. “Yes, I’m a p - I mean, I’m Pearl. Can we just get inside please?” Thankfully, Sadie didn’t hesitate, opening up the back door with a steady shove. Peeling red paint lost its grip on the wood as the two went inside, fluttering to the concrete of the floor and dusting it ever so slightly.

As Pearl looked around the slightly shabby space, her host ran off to prepare tea, saying something about ‘taking a seat and getting comfortable’, with an added ‘hopefully Lars won’t turn up early today.’ Pearl couldn’t help but agree. The boy was insufferable at the best of times.

In fact, Sadie also seemed particularly irritating at that moment. Maybe the gem was just having an off day?

Waiting for something to happen, she sat on a rickety chair, primly folded her hands in her lap and surveyed the room. It was larger than it appeared from the outside; the sides were lined with the boxes of donuts she had expected, as well as a set of large freezers. A doorway led directly to the shop, sans door - Pearl wondered if there had ever been one in the first place. Aside from the large human burn mark on one wall, there was little else to look at.

Leaning back in the chair, she attempted to relax and prepare for whatever Sadie had in mind.

***

Sadie was delirious.

She had finally succeeded! 

Seeing the motionless form of a woman lying in her strategically placed Lion Lickers box that morning had been like an early birthday, or an early christmas, or an early - well, some kind of untimely celebration! Considering the patience with which she had been replacing the tea flask each morning, it only seemed right that she should finally get some interaction with her mysterious lady. At one point, she’d even gotten Ronaldo involved, much to Lars’ chagrin.

“A disappearing woman, you say?” Ronaldo had shifted a large magnifying glass from one hand to the other, eyes thoughtful. “And she lives behind the diner?”

Leaning against the desk, Sadie had nodded excitedly, trying to ignore the disgusted snort that came from the boy stood next to her. “I saw her once, she was very tall, and pale. Wore a long sleeved shirt and jeans… do you have any ideas?”

“Leaves during the day, remains within the confines of civilisation, pale and withdrawn…” blond curls bouncing dramatically, Ronaldo waved his hand with a flourish. “I’ve got it!”

“What?” Lars’ voice was dripping with apathy, eyes boring into the other teen with an odd ferocity. “Do tell us your genius solution.”

Obviously aware of Lars’ distaste, Ronaldo pursed his lips slightly before continuing. “The answer is quite simple. The lady must be…a vampire! Why else would she choose to remain within the city, and avoid sunlight? Did she have fangs, do you know?”

“Oh.” Sadie didn’t quite know what to make of that. “I think her teeth were quite sharp. Are you sure about that though? A vampire?”

“Quite certain.” 

“Oh, for pity’s sake - go away Ronaldo. If you aren’t buying anything, then you’re just making life difficult for our other customers!” Lars had brandished an arm at the rest of the shop, which was completely empty save for Connie sat at the indoor table. She waved. Colouring slightly, the teen tried to ignore his gaffe and gather himself. “Well, in any case, you’re being annoying. There’s no way that this person is a vampire, because vampires don’t exist.”

Looking back, she had been rather foolish in enlisting the help of the town’s resident supernatural obsessive. The lady in the box was quite obviously not a vampire. There was something odd about her though… the thing on her head. Was it glowing?

It could just be the sunlight… but no. The large oval was definitely producing light independent of the sun, casting a circle of blue onto the inside of the box. Much as it should have scared her, it didn’t. It was just… mesmerising. 

Then the lady had woken up.

Sadie didn’t notice at first, so engrossed was she in the blue hologram. Maybe she said something; in her confused state of mind, nothing was really a conscious action. Anyway, the woman had pulled herself up into a sitting position, glaring into the sunrise vehemently. They had spoken (and how nice her voice was, how silky sweet!) and there hadn’t been any running away, just slightly grudging acceptance of what was to follow.

Now Sadie was making a cup of tea and marvelling at the fact that she could talk to Pearl at long last. 

Maybe she could convince her to sleep inside the diner rather than in that awful box underneath the bin lid. Although, that looked unlikely - from the gaps in the shelves, she could see a slender hand tapping on the worn table in irritation. That would surely leave a dent. Everything in the diner was falling apart, had been for years. Nobody higher up in chain really cared about the branch in Beach City. They had bigger fish to fry.

Taking care not to scald herself as Lars was wont to do, Sadie carried two brimming mugs of tea into the backroom, noting the way that Pearl’s head bobbed up to look as she came through the doorway. Her nose really was huge, as were her eyes which shone out big, wide and blue. Also, seemingly void of pupils, which was a bit freaky. Sadie had to hold in an oddly large sigh of appreciation at the way her orange bangs framed her lean face. There was something about the uniformity that was soothing.

“Was there ever a door?” 

“Huh?” The two mugs were placed on the table, eliciting a definite creak and wobble. The teen tried not to sound confused, failing expertly. “Door?”

Pearl chewed on her lip, looking up into a corner. “There, that gap. Was there ever a door?” Receiving a reply in the negative, she slipped back further into her chair, balancing her mug in her hands. “Oh.”

“Uh.” Sadie clutched at her own mug like an anchor, suddenly finding the state of the room a lot more interesting that she ever had before. It really was a mess. Empty boxes were strewn around the back wall, not piled up neatly as she had asked for them to be. Typical Lars. That would have to be attended to later.

A loud sigh emanated from the woman in the seat opposite. “This obviously isn’t going anywhere. As much as I appreciate my curiosity about the shop being satiated, I really should be going.” Pearl rested her mug lightly on the wood surface, standing and stretching, frowning at the low roof that almost grazed her hair. 

Sadie slammed her mug down with a thump. “Wait!”

The table collapsed.

Two mug’s worth of tea went cascading down to the floor, with the mugs themselves slipping down and crashing into one another. The resulting smash coincided exactly with the front door announcing the arrival of Lars, who panicked at the sudden noise and rushed in, only to find one very irritated stranger and a highly flustered Sadie. Shards of pottery were spread out across the linoleum floor, totally destroyed. One cup had merely lost its handle and was turned onto its side, a solid white island amidst the sea of spilt tea and the remains of its sibling.

Sheepish, Sadie gave a bleat of apology and began to clean up.

***

This really couldn’t get much worse.

If it weren’t for Sadie’s insistence that she should tidy the destroyed remains of their drinks, Pearl would have helped and gotten it over with a lot more quickly. As it was, she was now stuck standing in the shop itself very awkwardly. Lars had shepherded her in and silently gestured for her to sit. Judging by his facial expression, he already was less than fond and more than aware of her existence.

Running away before all of this could have happened would have been the better option. Now the diner was officially open for business and she was hemmed in, unable to go and work. She would just walk out of the front doors if not for fear that Sadie would become even more drastic.

The bell of the door tolled just as Pearl was considering this, a small indian girl entering the shop and blinking at the lack of workers manning the till. 

She turned.

“It’s you!”

Taken aback, Pearl simply nodded, wondering where this child could possibly know her from. To her dismay, she quickly jumped up on the opposite seat and excitedly repositioned her large circular glasses. 

“Do I know you?” the gem attempted to gain a grasp on the situation. 

The girl giggled, and shook her head. “No, but I know you! You’re the woman on the boardwalk, aren’t you? Wow, the gemstone is even bigger than I thought…”

Pearl’s hand immediately flew up to cover her gem, a definite flush colouring her cheeks. This amount of attention in such a short amount of time was wearing her out. Normally nobody paid her any mind whatsoever, and now she was being pestered by goofy young women and children and it wasn’t enjoyable. Maybe if she just went along with it for one teeny, tiny human day, they would let her be.

She was so going to have to move alleyways now.

“I am… the woman on the boardwalk, if that is what you call me. What is your name?”

“So well spoken! I’m Connie.” A small hand was offered across the table. “It’s nice to meet you.”

After a second’s hesitation, Pearl took the hand and shook it lightly. “Pearl. You too.” It was only half true, but Connie probably knew that, judging by the calculating stare that she had adopted. “Why are you at a diner so early? I thought children were supposed to be with their parents?”

The stare intensified. “It’s the summer holidays, and my parents let me spend my time around the local beaches if I want to. They’re too busy to look after me, and Beach City is my favourite. I like to read with snacks immediately available.” She paused. “You haven’t moved your hands in a while, aren’t you tired?”

Pearl noticed that she hadn’t, in fact, moved her hands from her gem. Folding them and leaning on the table, she looked out at the sea. The waves rolled back and forth, gleaming in the sunlight.

Earth was quite nice, really. 

“You’re very strange, you know.” Connie had lifted a ridiculously large tome onto the table, following the gaze of her companion out to the waters. “I know that pearl isn’t stuck on, it’s much too weighty for that. You can’t see an obvious seam either.”

“Uh-”

“You don’t eat, Sadie said, yet you will drink tea.” Connie was on a roll, leaning further and further in as she spoke. “You sleep in a box and you leave so early every morning that only I see you go. You wear a shirt and jeans but they are never creased; you have a massive gemstone on your forehead. You’re easily over 6 feet tall and your leg to torso ratio is completely out. What, exactly, are you?”

Pearl swallowed. “How on the earth do you know so much?”

“I’m perceptive. That’s what you get when you underestimate youth.” Much to the gem’s relief, Connie pushed back off the table, leaning back with arms crossed. Those glasses made her glare even more potent. “You aren’t going to answer my question, are you?”

“No.”

Just as the girl was going to respond, Sadie appeared in the doorway with the same embarrassed expression on her face. Tea had stained her shirt in asymmetrical brown patches, flecks of white pottery stuck in her tightly coiled curls, knees covered in dust from sweeping up all of the debris. Lars stalked out and took his place behind the counter, hands stuffed into his pockets and headphones on. 

“Sorry about that, Connie,” Sadie chuckled. “We just had to clean up the back room. Are you going to take that free donut now?”

“Don’t worry about it, and yeah, considering you owe me five. You really need to stop giving me those, though. It’s not a very sound business practice.” 

“Always the voice of reason, huh Connie? Lars will get you whatever you want.” Connie nodded at Sadie and picked up her book, turning to a page around the middle, reading with a hidden grin. “Now uh, Pearl, if you wanna come into the back, we can pick up where we left off. Maybe not exactly where we left off, considering, but… yeah.” Lars gave Sadie a bland look, more comprehending of her gibberish than Pearl was. 

The gem stepped away from the table, trying to contain her sigh. Today was already proving to be arduous.

It could only get better from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear commenter who asked about Pearl and Connie: here you go!
> 
> I have an SU tumblr under the same name as this fic, so any readers who want to talk, please do! I'd love to be able to chat with some of you.


	6. The Search for Offense

Lars fell back onto the trampoline with a heavy sigh, covering his eyes with an arm as Jenny pulled herself up to sit beside him. Buck and Sour Cream were clearly audible as they rounded the corner to the back yard, discussing a video game of some description that Lars would never have the time to play. He wished that somebody else played Skyrim in this tiny city; as it was, he either had to go to the internet or Ronaldo (his pride wouldn’t allow it) to discuss it. 

Although he’d been working so much lately it didn’t really make a difference.

“What’s got you so tired, man?” Sour Cream asked, twirling a basketball neatly on his index finger before chucking it behind him without looking. The ball bounced against a wall and hit Buck, who glared through his glasses.

“Work’s been bustin’ my ass lately,” Lars replied, unmoving. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

“You should be a DJ, man. Find a way to make your hobby your job.” Sour Cream had managed to pull out his headphones and mini speakers without anyone noticing. It was kind of creepy, the way he could do that. 

Even so, Lars laughed. “I don’t think I can turn gaming into a way to make money, great as the thought is. I’m hardly MLG level. Not that I want to be.” An airhorn noise sounded from the speaker, eliciting a large collective cackle from the group. “Exactly. I’m not that sad.”

“What’s up then?” Buck asked. “It can’t be worse than your dad trying to make you his PR manager. Nothing is worse than that.”

“Better a PR manager than a fisherman,” came a quiet reply.

“Maybe it’s not as bad as that.” Lars rolled onto his stomach. “Why do you care so much, anyway? You’ve been grilling me about stuff a lot lately. Like, weird amounts.” A little part of him cheered, just realising that he actually dared to question them now. 

“Oh, uhm -” Jenny looked over at the two guys across from her, taking from their stares that she would get no help from them. “Fine. It’s just… getting to know you. We kind of have this initiation thing where we let you talk about stuff and see how fun it is. No, not quite that… more to see how well you fit in. Also because we’re all super nosy.”

“Speak for yourself,” Buck intoned. “That’s basically it. We do it to everyone, so don’t worry about it.”

“Oh.” Lars didn’t much like randomly being tested, especially not by friends, but it seemed he didn’t have much of a say in it. “Well, I’ll tell you about work then. We finally got a hold of the lady Sadie’s been all over. About time, too.”

“Wait, you spoke to her?” Jenny turned excitedly, eyes wide. “What’d she say? Is she nice?”

Now the gazes of all three teens had turned to Lars, all unashamedly curious (save for Buck, whose face remained unreadable as ever). Tugging at his collar slightly, he gave his trademark sheepish grin and propped himself up on the blue tarpaulin, clearing his throat. “It’s kind of a long story,” he croaked. “Sadie was being really odd the whole time too, more nervous than I’ve ever seen her. She managed to smash two mugs before finally talking to Pearl.”

“Pearl, huh?” Buck snorted, but pulled up a garden chair and sat, resting his chin on his hands. “Go on man, tell us everything.”

Lars scratched at his head. “Well, okay. I’ll tell you everything I know.”

***

Hearing a loud crash from the backroom was not the strangest thing Lars had come to work to, but it wasn’t the most reassuring, either. He ran in, pushing any thoughts out of his head. When he found the source of the sound, however, he rather wished that he’d stayed outside the shop.

Tea was everywhere. It pooled across the slightly scummy linoleum, dotted with broken shards pottery.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry! Oh geez. Uh, I’ll clean this up. Please, go take a seat at the table in the other room. We can talk when I get this done. Please?” 

“Are you sure you don’t want any help?” a voice asked, in a tone that suggested that it didn’t want to help at all. 

Lars yelped at the sound of a second female voice, only now registering the very annoyed and very tall woman standing, arms crossed, near to the upright side of the table. He had thought that he was lanky, but there seemed to be miles on miles of denim-clad legs and further miles of green shirt until you got to her head. Yikes, her nose was long. Although, in proportion with the rest of the body, it was probably normal. If he carefully ignored the bizarre lump on her forehead, he could estimate that she was a good foot taller than him, if not more.

“No, Pearl, it’s fine. You can eat anything you want. If you actually eat anything, of course.” Sadie looked ready to cry but maintained a brave face. “I’ll make more tea.”

So now the woman had a name. Pearl. Pearl squinted, nodding slightly before brushing out of the room with long, swooping strides that would have been accented perfectly by a cloak. Judging by his co-worker’s frantic cleaning, this must be the newly famous homeless woman of the Big Donut. It wasn’t what he had expected, he would give her that. Pearl did seem kinda cold, though.

After being given a long look, he sighed and went to awkwardly guide Pearl to a chair - which she was perfectly capable of doing, and she only looked even more put out thanks to the unnecessary guidance. He made his way back to Sadie very quickly, not particularly wanting to be the subject of someone’s ire, leaning up against a rare patch of wall in the back room. Oddly, he felt almost reflective; wiser, even. It must come from his co-worker suddenly becoming so erratic and desperate. 

“Are you going to just stand there?” Sadie was staring up at him, cloth in hand, eyes red yet free of tears. “Come on Lars, I really need some help.”

Lars nodded absently. “You’re not gonna clean it with that, Sadie.” He grabbed a mop and a brush, shoving the brush at Sadie. “I’ll mop it up first, then you get the mug out of the way, okay?”

Sniffing, she nodded, and watched him get to work. “You’re being… oddly nice about this.” Ouch. Just because he was a petulant ass most of the time, and generally semi-aware of it, that didn’t mean he couldn’t pull through when his friend really needed it. Sometimes

He didn’t comment on that. “That’s the woman, isn’t it?” Sadie nodded. “You said… Pearl. How long has she been in here?”

“I woke her up,” Sadie blushed. “I didn’t expect her to be there. I think it’s because she forgot to wake up, more than because she changed her mind about talking to me. But she agreed to come inside… so that’s something, right?” Her face was painfully hopeful.

The floor was almost clear of tea. Who said Lars was a lazy worker? “Don’t push it, Sadie. You don’t know much about her. You don’t know what you can and can’t say.” He motioned for her to start sweeping, which she did with gusto. “Were you to make her angry now, well, I doubt we’ll see her again.” Which would be a bloody miracle, because Lars was sick of hearing about Pearl. 

Connie walked into the shop, and immediately struck up conversation with Pearl. Lars cackled. Petulant little girls are not what you want at 8am.

“I’ll be careful,” Sadie promised, still definitely too dazed. Geez. She really wasn’t with it today. Disaster was surely brewing. She peered down at the floor. “Is this clean enough?” 

A small pile of white shards had been moved to a corner, but other than that, it was spotless. He nodded, turning his attention to the table. The legs weren’t actually broken, they had merely slipped underneath the large board when too much weight had been applied to it. A simple fix. Lars lifted the main structure and carefully screwed the legs back into place, grinning with pride when the table was actually more stable than before.

They still needed a new one, though. That was a definite.

Pushing the chairs back in, Sadie grinned widely. “Right! I’ll go put these in the bin -” she gestured to the pile on the floor, “-and then we can go get her! Although. Um. Is Connie in there?”

“Yeah. She’s been in for a while. Why?”

Sadie swore, which was a rare occurrence to say the least. “Okay, I need you to mind the shop. Please?”

“You talk almost constantly about meeting this woman and now I can’t even take part? That’s just cruel, Sadie.” His tone was mocking, but underneath he was… hurt. Genuinely. That was very weird.

“Company policy, Lars. Somebody has to be in there. I just don’t know if this is the last chance I’ll get.” 

“Fine.” Lars spat, pulling out a set of headphones from his work bag (tucked between a few donut boxes) and blasting Mr Universe into his skull. This seemed to work for Sadie; she made her way into the other room, and he followed quickly, assuming his position behind the counter.

The music was so loud he could only just hear what she was saying. Although, most of it was so broken and bitty anyway he probably had a better comprehension of it than Pearl did, who was staring with a hilarious level of confusion. He gave Sadie a ‘look’, which often said more than enough to get his feelings across. Finally, she and Pearl left.

Of course, nobody came in for a snack. Breakfast donuts weren’t so popular with adults, so Lars was left alone with a scheming Connie (free donut clutched in hand) and something of a headache. That’s what you got for playing music at full volume for ten minutes.

This was so boring. 

Pulling his headphones back from his ears, Lars couldn’t help but poke a head around the doorway, noting how the woman leant uneasily against her chair. Sadie was desperately trying to form some kind of question. This was going to go horribly, he just knew it. Pearl would leave, possibly permanently, and leave him with a heartbroken Sadie who would be no fun for months on end and drive him insane. Maybe that was a bit self-centred, but his coworker had brought this on herself, honestly. 

“You can go join in, if you want. I’ll keep an eye on the shop.” Connie was watching Lars carefully, book lying open on the table.

“Uh, really?” 

“Yes, of course. It’s hardly as though I’ll steal anything, you owe me enough already.”

Lars squinted distrustfully at her, but he stalked over to the counter’s resident post-it note and grabbed a pen. “What do we owe you then? Another donut?” The girl shook her head, a cunning look crossing her features.

“I want pay. The appropriate amount for the amount of time I spend minding the shop.”

Damn, that girl was smart. Lars could hardly refuse her; he needed some kind of supervision around or he’d get fired on the spot (even though Sadie had abandoned him, but he had agreed to that). Still, actual money… it would have to come out of his wages. “Fine,” he hissed. “You’re really bloody annoying, I hope you know that, kid.”

Connie nodded, lifting up her book. “Go on then. You needn’t worry about anything.”

As Lars went to join the awkward pair in the back room, he wondered why letting Sadie rub off on Connie was ever a good idea. Stalwart feminist that Sadie was, it was only going to result in a painfully facetious and self-righteous child, who always managed to get their way. It wasn’t that Lars disliked feminists - it would be shooting himself in the foot, to say the least - it was just that they were so… forceful. Self-assured, would be an apt word for it. Yep, Connie was probably going to become a woman to be reckoned with. He hoped that his co-worker was proud.

Both Pearl and Sadie turned to look at him as he entered. “What about the shop?” Sadie asked plaintively, furrowing her brow.

“I left it with Connie,” Lars sighed, pulling up and opening a fold-up chair from the side. “We owe her even more now.”

It seemed like Sadie was about to argue, but Pearl looked almost appraising. “She’s an intelligent child. Precocious, one might say. The shop will be fine under her supervision.”

“Oh, um, okay.” The shorter woman looked almost expectantly at Lars, who raised an eyebrow and slumped in his chair. “What are you actually doing?”

“Just watching,” Lars said. “It was super boring in there, plus you’re being really awkward. I can tell. Hopefully me being here might make you a bit less horrendously difficult.” 

She flushed angrily, but turned to Pearl with a kind of vengeance. “Right. Okay. I’ve been trying to talk to you for ages. Why did you keep running away?”

“You’ve been trying to talk to me for ages,” Pearl deadpanned. Smiling a little, she straightened up her posture and became even more towering. “In all seriousness, I don’t like too much attention focused on me. I’m just too busy.”

“You’re going to get attention, sleeping behind a donut shop.”

“I managed not to for a good three years. I could most definitely manage it again, or go to somewhere like Ocean Town.”

Sadie shuddered. “So you’ve been here that long, for certain?”

Pearl nodded. “Most definitely. Much longer than you have, I know. The music on the radio was a lot better back then.” She stared momentarily at Lars, before slipping back into her chair. “I know that the old workers noticed me, but they never tried to contact me properly.”

“Would you ever have tried to contact them?” 

“No. As I say, I don’t like attention.”

That line of discussion was leading nowhere. Lars watched his coworker try another approach, he himself trying to read her intentions. A light patter of feet outside suggested that Connie had gone for another donut, noting it down on a piece of paper on the counter and sitting down again. Without this level of tension, Lars doubted he would have noticed.

“Have you always been living rough?” 

This got a reaction, if only a slightly flinch, quickly turned back into quiet composure. “No. In fact, that also started three years ago. I haven’t really slept anywhere else.”

“Where did you live, then?”

Pearl bristled, eyes carefully guarded. “I’m not answering that one. Ask another.”

“Okay, fine,” Sadie was unperturbed, leaning in again (but making sure not to press down on the table). “Where do you go during the day?”

“I can’t tell you that either.”

“Oh, come on! You must be able to give me some clues.” It was clear that Sadie was becoming agitated with her lack of success, determined as she was. “Whatever it is, it can’t be so bad or secret that you can’t say.”

“Yes it can, and it is. So kindly desist.” Pearl no longer looked quite so amiable. “In fact, I don’t remember agreeing to go under such bizarre questioning. I was under the impression we would have a nice relaxed discussion about tea, and then you would leave me alone, taken with some other fancy. I would much prefer that.”

“Me too! But I have a lot of things that I need to know first!” Sadie stood, pacing around unhelpfully. “Why don’t you eat? What’s that thing on your head, and why does it make holograms? I’m starting to think Ronaldo may be right.”

Lars snorted.

Both girls ignored him. He couldn’t blame them.

“That’s personal information that I am not willing to give.”

Sadie flopped down into her chair again, cupping her face with her hands. “Let me give a place to sleep, at least.”

It was clear Pearl was interested, even though she veiled it with her tight posture. “Like where?”

“This room, maybe, I could get you a bedroll and stuff, or maybe even my house… I do have a spare room, after all!”

“You barely know me. Why would you do that?” Lars could sympathise with the paranoid tone in her voice. He heard it come from his own lips often enough. 

“Well, it must be cold out there, and a box is hardly comf-”

“You’re sorry for me. That’s it. That's all this is.” Pearl almost looked disappointed. Although, goodness knows what else she could have expected. “Well I’m fine, I don’t need any help. Not from you, anyway.”

Anger bubbled up in Lars, oddly hot, prompting him to speak up. “Hey, don’t be such an ass. She’s trying to help you here. You could at least be kind of grateful.” It wasn’t going to work; he could see the steely stubbornness in the way Pearl carried herself, that infuriating condescending look that Sadie would give him on occasion. 

“I didn’t ask for help, in case you forgot. In fact, I was actively avoiding it, until today. I don’t want anything from you. Especially not a lecture.”

“Come on Pearl,” Sadie said, anxiously reaching out. “You can’t honestly like being out there, surely?”

“Well, maybe I can! And maybe I don’t appreciate being taken in and grilled, without so much as a moment to just - augh." She clutched at her head, face contorted with pain as she spat out her words. “You expect me to talk to more people than I have done in years, to go through all this stuff and just deal with it? Be fine? It’s too much.”

“You’ve only spoken to me -” Sadie began.

“And Connie. And Lars. People who shouldn’t even know I exist! Now I have to deal with everything changing, as if I haven’t already a hundred times.”

Lars realised that Pearl was actually telling them more in her ranting than she had been when answering questions, so he allowed Sadie to continue with her ill advised plan. The clerk was red-faced, hair sticking up unnaturally from running her hands through it. “I can’t let you stay out there. I’d never forgive myself.”

There was a long silence.

Pearl looked delighted for a moment. “You wouldn’t forgive yourself, hm? So is this actually about me, or is it about you?” Her face fluctuated between a look of triumph and sorrow, evidently happy for more to fuel her anger as well as feeling let down. What was she doing?

Arms flailing, Sadie sighed with exasperation. “You, obviously! What - what would I even hope to gain?”

“A clear conscience,” Pearl retorted, face still caught in that strange mixture of emotion. “You’ve been trying to ‘help’ for weeks. Have you thought about anything else?” When Sadie looked at the table, evidently confused by the backlash, the tall woman smirked. “So, this is about you.” She stood, glaring down. For all she tried to hide it, the boy could see the bit of her that wanted to stay, especially due to the breaking of her voice in her parting words. “Thank you for the tea, but I’ll be going now. Don’t look for me again.”

The door slammed. 

Pearl had thrown herself out of the room at a speed neither worker expected, rattling the walls significantly. It didn’t sink immediately for Sadie. She just sat and stared at the empty seat, eyes slowly welling up with tears. 

“She wanted to be angry.” Lars stated.

Sadie groaned, and leaned on her arms, covering up her eyes with large palms. When she brought them back down the table, they shone with tears. “No, I made her angry. She’s right. It was more about me than her, I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity. Not that I even got that much.”

To Lars’ surprise, he hugged her, registering the shocked moment when Sadie clammed up before she warmed to it. “The way she treated you was crummy. You’ve… got a good heart, Sadie. If I see her again, I’ll give her a slap.” He stopped the quiet protest. “Nobody gets to be that much of an asshole, that’s my job. Now, we should probably get back to the shop, or I’m gonna owe Connie all my pay.”

“You gave her money?”

***

Jenny was lying back on the trampoline at this point, considering the setting sun. The moon was now visible in the darkening sky - Lars hadn’t realised he’d been talking so long, but none of the teens seemed to mind. If anything, they were even more invested than before. Please don’t let them become obsessed with Pearl too, he cried internally. What was so interesting about this damn lady?

“Wow.” Buck was leaning as far back as he could go in his garden chair. “That was pretty wild.”

Laughing, Lars also fell back, staring up at the skies. “Tell me about it.”

“She was kind of a bitch.” Jenny coloured at the stare she got from the other three, shrugging as nonchalantly as she could. “What? She was! Sadie’s like, the sweetest person ever. Well, except for me of course.”

“Right.” Buck snorted. “Sweet. I’ll pretend to agree.” Ignoring her protests, he turned to Sour Cream. “What do you think man?”

The white-haired boy shook his head, grimacing. “Not cool, man. I get she’s probably had a hard time, but you don’t take it out on people like that.”

“Hmm. So, uh, how’s my initiation going?” Lars couldn’t help but inquire, receiving a lot of loud chuckles.

“You’re too paranoid man, you’re doing fine. Like we said the other day, you’re pretty cool.” Buck had the expression on his face that meant that he was, for once, being neither sarcastic nor ironic. It was strange to see him being so genuine.

“Yeah, he’s right.” Sour Cream gestured to the house. “We should probably get indoors, man. It’s pretty dark out.”

***

Elsewhere, Pearl gripped at the fabric of her jeans. Her headache had gone, replaced by infuriating hyperventilating.

She regretted her outburst, and for exaggerating her feelings. She regretted looking for ways to get out of there. She regretted allowing herself to wake up late. She regretted more things than she could count, but she could hardly go back and change them now. A choice was going to have to be made, and soon.

Pearl could only hope that her decision would be the right one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray for erratic Pearl! Apologies that this chapter is so late, I'm aiming to update every Wednesday but that just did not happen. But the chapter is longer as a result! Thank you to my beta, psychosomatic86, and much love. Judging from where we are in my notes... this is gonna be a long ride.


	7. Official Donut Shelver

For six days, Sadie remained steadfast behind the counter of the Big Donut, earning worried looks from both Connie and Lars that she carefully ignored. They probably sold more donuts in those six days than they had in weeks, she estimated. Lars had advertised a price reduction for the end of summer, which brought in flocks of locals, who were suddenly very invested in the consumption of sugary baked goods.

Connie had not been terribly pleased with this. As she had said, “School starts soon, and I want a few more quiet days to enjoy.” When Sadie had asked if she was lonely, coming here every day, Connie had shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me terribly. I have my books, and I have you guys. I can’t help but feel like something in my life is missing, though.”

Then she had asked about Pearl and Sadie had walked away to serve Kiki. 

The sudden influx of people was exhausting for both workers of the shop, but also a welcome break from their individual woes. Lars slept frequently in the back room. He was often found slumped in a chair like a ragdoll, phone open to some debate forum about gaming, headphones blasting some unexpected music like whale songs or Bach. For once, Sadie couldn’t blame him. The heavy bags under his eyes told of very little sleep, and a lot of work.

“I’m trying to get my relaxation time, but it’s at like, midnight,” he had stated to the cool kids on the fourth day, while bagging their favourites. He hadn’t needed to ask, something that had warmed Jenny’s eyes considerably and made the other two give twin smiles. “Mostly it’s playing Skyrim, but even then, I have to keep up to date with company emails and stuff. It’s crazy how busy everything got all at once. Sadie’s being pretty cool about it, though.”

“Well, don’t be a stranger,” Jenny muttered as they paid. “We miss you Lars.”

His rare cheerful smile stirred a heavy jealousy in Sadie, and she had ordered him to mop the floor. Twice. Then she was sorry to see his glare, and quite regretted it. 

Pearl wasn’t totally pushed from her mind, but falling asleep the second she got home and constantly looking over accounts had taken precedence over her pet mystery. Barbara would look over the money after she was done, yet the worry that the pennies wouldn’t total up still plagued her. Normally it was barely necessary - Connie was practically their only regular, and she got a majority of her food for free. Now there was a lot of counting and working out the profits and just so much stuff, so many numbers.

Thankfully, it always added up, and the increase in tips was a welcome gift. With a week of the holidays left to go, soon it would all be back to normal.

On the seventh day, Sadie walked into the shop three minutes before 8, dangerously close to opening time. Lars was already stood behind the counter, glaring daggers. “Oh good, you showed up. About time.”

“I slept in, I’m sorry.” She blushed darkly, infuriated by the myriad of early morning problems she had already gone through. It had rained heavily the night before, leaving the entire city slippery and generally damp. It made her grumpy. It also made her think about Pearl, which was bad enough in itself, prompting that mixture of guilt and indignation that had become so familiar recently. 

“Whatever.” So he had his angry face on today, brilliant. To her surprise, however, his expression softened and he gestured to the back door. “You may wanna go take a look. Right now.”

Confused, she nodded, flipping the door sign around to ‘OPEN’ as she went. Momentarily taking in the state of the back room (good heavens, it was messy; there was another thing to do), she pushed at the red door and winced as more flakes of dried paint were pulled off under her rough fingers. Early morning light poured in, turning the concrete of the square to a gentle glow.

Pearl was sat in her box.

More specifically, she was kneeling in her box, arms hung over the side and her head leaning gently to the left. Looking up, she gave Sadie an infuriatingly bland stare that slipped into something a touch more repentant.

“You’re here?” The clerk nibbled at her lip uncertainly. “Why?”

“I don’t really know.” Pearl admitted. “To apologise. I suppose. My actions last week were unfair, and irrational.” She wrung one sleeve exhaustedly, allowing a few drops of water to slip onto the ground. “Also, it rained into my box and I’m absolutely sodden. I wished to accomplish the proverbial ‘two birds with one stone’ and dry out as I spoke to you.”

Sadie blinked at the overly fanciful language Pearl used, but didn’t allow herself to be too distracted. “I’m not sure I forgive you - yet. I wore myself out worrying over you, and you threw it in my face. But,” she walked up, proffering a hand. “I’m not one to hold grudges. So.”

The hand was taken gratefully, along with a shudder at the way the green shirt dripped and rumpled. Almost certainly Sadie heard a mutter of “what you get for wearing real clothes”. After electing to ignore it, she and Pearl peered into the box. A small, damp blanket had migrated to the farthest corner, while the cardboard itself had shrivelled and flaked irreparably. 

“Damn,” the tall woman sighed. “I did so like that box. So much larger than the usual.”

“My offer still stands,” was the reply. “Even if you were awful about it.”

This earned a flinch. “I really don’t enjoy being pitied, that much is true. I was looking to take offence at the time, however. The attention had put me into a panicked state and I wanted an excuse to leave. My conduct remains deplorable.” For the first time, Sadie saw Pearl’s face pull into a look that wasn’t heavily guarded, just sad. “Unfortunately, that isn’t an uncommon occurrence.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She considered Pearl for a moment. “So, are you going to come into the diner, or not?”

“I’ll - I’ll go with you.”

“You should probably say thank you, you know.” A slightly cruel part of the shorter woman was enjoying the discomfort that she was inflicting. Call it revenge, perhaps.

“Oh. Thank you.” A blue blush sprang to Pearl’s cheeks, and she made for the door, pulling gently on the handle yet still managing to near remove it. She blinked down at her hands. “I don’t know my own strength, evidently. How poorly constructed this is.” 

“Tell me about it. Now get inside, for goodness’ sake.”

***

It had taken Pearl the best part of a week to move beyond her pride and make the final decision to apologise for her behaviour. A rather long period of time, she knew, but when you were an ageless alien being with little concept of human rules and behaviours it was forgivable. Still, it took a significant amount of effort to get the words out; Sadie wouldn’t stop staring the entire time. 

Intimidating, for someone of such a diminutive stature.

The back room was even messier than the last time she had been in there, boxes built up into formidable piles that looked ready to topple over, the occasional donut lying on the floor. Through the gap she could see customers lining up to the till already. Connie was giving them powerful glares from her perch. Territorial thing. The shop could only have been open for a few minutes - how had she have gotten in on time?

“She has that chair reserved,” Sadie said, responding to Pearl’s direct stare. “Literally. No more free donuts for her. She cashed them all to guarantee that she gets her favourite spot.”

“Immovable, that girl.” Maybe Pearl had spoken aloud without realising, for Sadie laughed and pulled at her hair. 

Looking painfully stressed all of a sudden, the clerk directed her guest to a chair and yanked out a spare Big Donut shirt from a plastic box, throwing it over to the highly confused gem. “Try that on for size, I doubt you want to stay in that sodden thing.” Momentarily, Pearl considered forming clothing using her gem, deciding against it when she realised that Sadie would probably ask more questions. Thoughtlessly, she pulled off the dripping green shirt and caught the other woman staring.

“What?”

“It - what? Sorry. It looks almost like carapace. I’m pretty sure bodies aren’t supposed to be that flat.” Sadie threw her hands up to her eyes and flushed heavily. “Sorry! I’ll just - I’ll turn around.”

Pearl was mostly confused by the embarrassed reaction from Sadie. It hadn’t even crossed her mind that humans would be so flustered by such a thing. Even so, she pulled the shirt on and found it fit fairly well. A little wide around the midriff, perhaps, but otherwise perfect. “You can look. It’s a good size. Soft. I can see why you bother with them.” Cotton was one of the things that had convinced Pearl to wear natural clothing. The texture was soothing, something you rarely found on Homeworld.

“You could almost be a worker!” Sadie made for the door cheerfully, only to stop midway and turn, features pulled into a sharp expression. “Almost… be a… worker.” 

Pearl knew that look. It was not one she wanted to humour. “Oh no. No no no. You barely know me, I could very well steal all of your money.” Possibly even buy some new clothes. This didn’t actually sound like too bad of a plan. What had homelessness done to her? “It would be a terrible idea. Your business practice is horrendous.”

The clerk gave a desperate cry, gesturing to the long line of customers (who all seemed sensibly concerned by this). “We’ve been run off our feet for days. There’s no way we’ll get to talk before the rush slows, so you may as well do something. Right?”

So this was how it was going to go. Of course. “What would you have me do?”

“Could you keep the shelves stocked? It’s not too difficult. You just find the box in here with the right label and replace any donuts that have been sold. It’ll make life so much easier for me. Plus,” her eyes took on a wicked glint. “You owe me.”

That was true, Pearl had to admit. Damn these conniving humans! “Fine. I’ll do it. So long as I don’t have to talk to any customers.”

Sadie’s face brightened considerably and she rushed to join Lars, assuring the gem that ‘nobody will bother you, honestly!’ Pearl did not believe that in the slightest, as, she was soon to find out, was the most sensible she had been all week.

Stacking the shelves was easy, that much was certain. As an expertly trained technician from another planet - possibly an overly kind description, but she hated the word ‘servant - this basic task was no strain whatsoever. Tidying the room as she went, it gradually became increasingly dull, ignoring the stares of the customers and carrying donuts to and fro. Every now and again, a box would be emptied and thrown out. The fact that she found this oddly fun and thrilling in its disorganisation suggested to Pearl that she may be an extremely lonely and deprived individual. 

Any kind of self-pity was magnified when the ‘Cool Kids’ arrived. 

“Really, Lars?” Sadie sighed, watching the group slowly move to the front of the queue. “You invited them again?”

Lars shoved a handful of money into the till, rolling his eyes. “No, they came all on their own. My friends actually actively want to see me, you know. Plus, donuts are at their cheapest today.” He finally managed to pool the correct amount of change into his palm, handing it over to Mr Smiley. The tall man had been staring at the newcomer and barely noticed the money as he walked away. “Did you have to let Pearl in here? She’s just making everyone stare.”

“Yes, I did. Our job has been so much easier without having to constantly run between rooms.” Taking an order from a tourist, Sadie bagged something overflowing with cream and sighed. “Besides which, I’m still not sure what to do with her.”

“Well, work it out.” Lars spat, demeanour quickly changing as Buck waved in greeting. He straightened his back and gave a largely fake grin. “Buck! What can I do for you today, man?”

“How’s it hanging, Lars?” He shifted from side to side in a rare display of unease, Jenny and Sour Cream waiting at his heels. “Uh. So guys, what do you want?”

“Wait, what? I thought you’d chosen?”

“No, I was preoccupied. Just get something, it hardly matters.”

“Come on guys, we’re supposed to be the cool ones. This is like, anti-cool.”

“Shut up, Sour Cream, it’s not helping.”

Confused by their bickering, Lars shot Sadie a look, receiving a similarly raised eyebrow in return. Then Pearl walked in, laden with a box, and everything became clear. Three heads swivelled in unison, following the gem. She noticed immediately, and clutched at the cardboard a little harder. 

“Um. Sadie? They’re staring at me.” She pulled uncertainly at her collar, placing the box down on the floor and extracting donuts from it nervously. When their eyes remained focused on her, she was obviously tempted to back away, frozen under their gaze.

Lars wanted to scream. “You came to see Pearl, didn’t you?” Of course they did. A sharp pang of jealousy rose up in his throat, forced down by a heavy swallow. He wouldn’t feel hurt about this. He refused.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry, dude.” Sour Cream did appear genuinely apologetic. “We were gonna swing by anyway, but like, everyone was talking about this weird new lady, and we couldn’t resist.” He ruffled his hair, eliciting a few annoyed mumbles from the other patrons. “So, like, is this her then? She’s taller than I expected.”

“Everyone in this town is crazy,” Pearl whispered. “Why do these people know about me?”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lars sighed. “I can explain, honestly, I just - c’mon you guys, if you aren’t buying anything, we need to serve other customers.” He ushered them out of the line and outside, where Jenny stopped, arms crossed. Something like genuine disappointment came across in her tone when she spoke.

“Not cool, Lars. We just wanted to talk to her.” The other two nodded in agreement.

The boy rubbed at his forehead in exasperation. “I appreciate that, but she’s not even supposed to be working. Like, she’s super distrustful, plus everyone’s been staring at her, all day. I think she’s kinda freaked out by it all. I’ll see if you can meet her another time, alright? Just, today is really not the day.” He gestured to the crowd of people snaking out of the shop. “Too many tourists. We can barely keep up with it.”

“Sorry man,” Sour Cream said, pulling at Buck’s arm. “We’ll let you get on with it. Talk to us later though, right? That thing on her forehead was super wacko.”

“Don’t let Ronaldo near her,” Buck laughed as they walked away. “He might try to call the FBI.”

***

Finally, the crowds began to clear, leaving a very large amount of empty donut boxes. Lars and Sadie slumped over the counter. Pearl rested her head on the indoor table, watching Connie pack away her books, eyes almost slipping shut. Sleeping sounded great right now. If she could ignore the chill of the table (which felt a like a less pleasant version of a sea breeze) then she would have been out cold.

“Why were there so many people?” the gem asked, yawning widely. “That was ridiculous.”

“Everybody knows when there’s a Big Donut sale. You wouldn’t think it from this diner, but the branch is actually very popular.” Sadie managed to pull herself up and grab a pastry, too exhausted to care about company policy. “When they have a sale, it happens nationwide. So all the summer tourists know exactly when our prices are at their best. Today was definitely abnormal though. I didn’t think there were that many people in Beach City, visitors included.”

“Please never make me do that again.” Pearl tracked the movements of the child across from her as she lifted the bag, laden with a library’s worth of books, and jumped off her chair. “Until next time, Connie.”

“No fear,” Lars muttered, waving half-heartedly at Connie as she left. “Everyone was so preoccupied with you they forgot what they were doing.”

“Thank you. Now, I should probably go out to the box.” Rising from her chair, Pearl began to make for the exit. Then she fell back down and rubbed at her gem, groaning. “The rain. I forgot. There are a few new boxes, I’m sure. Maybe the blanket is salvageable.”

Desperately trying to rouse herself from her resting position, Sadie waved uselessly at Pearl. “No, no. You don’t have to sleep out there. I was going to tell you - you can stay in the back room. I’ll put together a bed for you.” She winced. “A rather makeshift one, admittedly. I think we have some cushions, right Lars?”

 

“You know my opinion on this, Sadie.” He rested his cheek on his palm, glaring at the wall. 

“Fine, I’ll do it myself. You go home.”

The two women watched as Lars threw his possessions into his laptop bag with a sneer, and blinked simultaneously at his slightly sarcastic wave. Only when the door shut with a *click* did Sadie get up and go to look at the night gathering outside. Heavy clouds had pooled into a thick, grey covering over the town, threatening yet another rainstorm. She could sense Pearl’s shiver, even with her back turned. 

“I’ll find you an area in the back room, don’t worry. It’s a decent temperature, maybe a bit chilly - to conserve the donuts. If we’re missing anything, I’ll bring it in tomorrow.”

“Why are you doing this?”

Sadie twisted away from the window to see the woman lying listlessly over the table, facing away from her. Despite her general sarcasm and unpleasantness before, now she seemed merely broken. “Why bother with it at all? What have you to gain? I’m certainly not deserving of it.”

“It’s called common decency, Pearl. You don’t have to gain anything at all. Could you get the lights for me?” 

***

Sadie threw herself onto the couch in the most dramatic fashion possible, burying her head into a cushion. Ah. Smelt like cinnamon. Taking a long, heavy sniff, she could sense her mother hovering next to her, wanting to probe her on the events of the day. This was not an unusual occurrence, considering she did it practically every evening, but this week she had been particularly insistent. Something about knowing the tolls of work and wanting to make sure that Sadie wasn’t going to have a breakdown.

“How are you doing, chuck? Good day at work?” Barbara shoved Sadie to one side, ruffling her daughter’s hair with ease. It was yet another habit her mother had picked up, but one she could appreciate. “I heard it was even busier than Wednesday.” 

“Sure was,” Sadie muttered, sinking back into the cushions. “We coped fine though. It has been worse in the past.”

Proudly holding the girl close, Barbara smiled. “I know. You’re such a good worker. But a little birdy told me something about another employee today.” Giving a sly chuckle at her daughter’s surprise, she continued, “I hear a lot of things as a post lady. I’m also willing to bet that this new worker was that woman you’ve been going on about. Pearl, was it?”

“Oh, yeah. It was her. She wasn’t massively happy about it, especially all the attention. Buck Dewey and his lot - they stopped by just to take a look.” Not to speak to Lars, she remembered. Or at least, they had gotten there a lot faster with the added incentive. It calmed her jealousy a bit. 

“The cool ones? I was under the impression that they didn’t get excited about anything.”

“Me too, although Lars knows them a lot better than me. He must have told them about her.” There it was, that rise of bile that accompanied her co-worker so much. How annoying. “Anyway, we got rid of them, and put her up for the night -”

“You did what?” 

“Well, we let her sleep in the back room. We managed to make up a makeshift bed using some cushions and-”

Barbara huffed loudly, shaking her head in disbelief. She rose from her place on the sofa and began to pace between the door and Sadie. “You can’t let her sleep in there, it’s not comfortable or tidy at all. No, no, you’ll have to bring her here Sadie. I shan’t allow the poor woman to suffer that place.”

“You have no idea what she’s like! Nor do I! I trust her enough to allow her to sleep in the diner, but not here, mom.” Sadie gave an exasperated squeak. “I appreciate your - your altruism - I really do. Pearl was happy enough to be inside, so we’ll just leave it at that. Besides, we don’t have room.”

“Yes we do, we have the spare room. All it needs is a little spring clean!”

“A little.” The look that accompanied Sadie’s words was dry. “More like a total overhaul, mom! I’m just worried that she’d say no, or think I was crazy. It’s safer to just have her in the diner, for now.”

Tapping on the doorframe, Barbara gave that powerful motherly huff that informed Sadie that she was In Deep Water. For what, the girl couldn’t work out. “You go to work and you offer her our spare room, young lady. If you don’t, I’ll go in and do it myself! Now, do you want fish or chicken for dinner?”

Sadie rubbed at her eyes and sighed heavily. Whatever her mother wished to prove - her undying need to care for other people, or that their house wasn’t shambolically messy most of the time - she would much rather invite Pearl herself. Having Barbara in the diner never ended well, from experience. That burn mark on the wall… poor Bernard. He hadn’t deserved it.

Making a note in her diary, Sadie followed her mother into the kitchen. “Fish, I think. You make it so well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like having the gems as being less humanoid in appearance, so I basically keep the feminine features to the face and basic build. I've just started college, so updates may suffer from it, but I definitely want to keep this story updated! There's a whole lot of craziness to go yet.
> 
> Also, these chapters were not meant to be 4000 words each, it just... happens. Out of two pages of notes, we are on line 4. Oops?


	8. Connie

 

_ “You loved me. You lived for me, and now I’m dead. So why are you alive?” _

Pearl jolted upright with a screech, breathing heavily and thinking in her momentary panic that, if she had a heart, it would be hammering most unnaturally. She sat clutching at her blanket; taking in the unfamiliar space, she eventually recognised it as the diner. Darkened boxes loomed over head. She was tucked in below a high shelf, multiple cushions acting as a mattress, looking upwards at the boards that made up the storage space. Everything was caught in a state of temporary hush, shadowy, silent. Even the creaking of the door as rain battered it was muted.

A chill passed through the room, prompting a definite shiver. Who knew how late it was? Pearl could only just make out the vague shadow of her old jade shirt drying over a chair, purple tee still clinging to her midriff. 

There was a jangle of keys outside, a tired huff and the telltale ring of the front door opening. Footsteps sounded in the distance. 

Pearl winced and blinked into the sudden glare as Lars flipped the backroom lightswitch on, raising one unimpressed eyebrow. He appeared well rested. One hand boasted an unfamiliar box - reading  _ OBLIVION - _ as a frosted donut disintegrated in the other. “Morning,” he mumbled.

“Uh. Good morning.” Trying to extract herself from below the shelves was quite a complicated move. “Did you have a nice evening?”

Lars considered her carefully. “Small talk seems weird coming from you. It was okay. Met up with my friends.” He gestured to the pillows with the box. “Sleep well enough?”

“Most comfort I’ve had in millenia,” Pearl replied, not noticing the alarmed huff he gave. Stooping over the tables, she picked up one of the flasks of tea that had been left out, massaging her gem ever so slightly. Ech. It was cold. 

Shuffling to readjust a section of precarious boxes, Lars turned his head; he caught sight of her distaste, the split second of disgust. “I don’t like you, you know.” He tried to hide any inflection, eyes focused on the  _ FROSTED _ logo lined up with his forehead. “I’m not gonna pretend that I like this whole arrangement, either. Sadie is way too kind, and I dunno how the hell she decided to trust you so quickly.”

Pearl blinked down into the muggy tea. “That’s fine. I don’t expect you to like me. I don’t particularly like me either.”

“Wow. Guilt trip, much?”

“What’s a guilt trip?”

“Making somebody feel guilty on purpose.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Whatever.” There was a clatter of keys again, the thump of the door, and Sadie’s self-berating laughter. “She’s locked herself out again. What a moron.” Lars struggled to refrain from smiling slightly even so. Pearl gave him a sideward stare, lips pursing as though thinking very deeply about nothing at all.

“Goodmorning!” Sadie announced, finally in the shop and cheerfully removing her well-worn fleece. Entering the backroom she blinked, surprised to see Pearl paused at the table, Lars self-consciously staring back. “Am I… Am I interrupting anything?”

“Oh no, nothing,” the gem laughed, as Lars piped a wild “Nah, we were just uh - saying hello - ?”

“... Okay, cool!” Sadie sidled up to her new friend (a questionable term, but one she would use nonetheless) and grinned brightly. “Hey there. Sleep okay?”

“Very well, thank you.”

Sadie paused momentarily, verging on nervous. “I wouldn’t get too used to it.” The panicked look that Pearl betrayed made her jump, waving her hands. “No, no, not like that! It’s just that my mom - Barbara, she’s lovely, honestly - didn’t like the sound of you sleeping in the diner. We have a spare room and it’s never been used, so…?”

Both frustrated and faintly endeared, Pearl shook her head. “I couldn’t intrude. You have no reason to have to house me, besides which, this is plenty comfortable! No, I’ll stay here. Thank you for the offer.”

Lars rolled his eyes and went into the shop, pulling his headphones over his ears. Following his movements, Sadie laughed weakly. “I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice. Unless you plan to run away now, my mom’s coming here to pick us up at the end of the day. No excuses. I did try to reason but she’s so -”

“ _ Human. _ ” Pearl wasn’t too annoyed. It could be far worse. “Fine. I rather feel as though I’m being pushed in at the deep end.”

Choosing not to enquire further about why Pearl didn’t seem to fit the term ‘human’, Sadie shrugged, jingling of the shop bell announcing Connie’s premature arrival. The clock read 6:53. The clerk peered into the shop. “Good morning, Connie. You’re here very early today.” 

“Dad dropped me off. I’m not staying all day, anyway. I was thinking of going to the fair.” Unloading a thick tome from her bag, the girl stretched out. “Is Pearl here?”

In reply, the gem wandered out into the shop, almost appreciative of the way that the sun rose, glittering on the waters. “Hello, Connie.” She picked up the book, considering the cover and the finely printed blurb on the back. “Is this the normal kind of reading for children of your age? It seems rather heavy.”

“Well, uh, it’s a little advanced.” Even when digging through her bag, her blush was evident. 

“Good for you,” Pearl opined, laying it down gently. “I suppose I’m on duty again today?” She turned to Sadie, who had been watching with a certain glimmer to her eyes which Pearl wasn’t used to, and she didn’t quite like. 

“Yeah,” the clerk replied. “I mean, you could take Connie to the amusement park later, if you’d like. I don’t know how I feel about leaving her alone there.”

“I’m twelve, not two! But that could be quite nice… So long as you don’t mind more questions.”

Pearl sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Well, why not. If I’m going to be sociable, I might as well do it properly.”

***

In comparison to the day prior, the diner was blissfully quiet, with a significant but manageable trickle of townsfolk and tourists stopping by. Fewer seemed interested in Pearl - how quickly their curiosity was sated! - although there remained the odd few stares her way. It occurred to the gem that it might have been beneficial to talk more with the humans, so that this wouldn’t be as awkward and unfamiliar as it was. Mind you, they were quite literally alien. 

One little girl had tried to grab her gem, impressed by the light bouncing off it as Pearl walked past. After the momentary panic, it had almost been endearing. Almost. The mother had still snatched the girl’s hand back and apologised profusely, although it was clear that she was close to doing the same. So damnably curious. It made the gem wonder how on the earth homo sapiens had survived so long in the first place. Or maybe that was their trick, to discover and endanger until only the very best survivors remained. 

If Pearl hadn’t known how clumsy the humans generally were, this would have been a convincing viewpoint.

After packing away the millionth box, Pearl caught sight of Connie slamming her book shut. A bad plot point? Flashing glasses turned to stare, and the gem suddenly felt rather pinned down, knowing that the will of a child was incredible in comparison to that of an adult. “I think we should go to the theme park,” Connie announced. “You might want to put another shirt on.”

Pearl nodded, dropping the box of donuts she had been carrying and running into the backroom, swapping to her old green cotton shirt in a three swift movements. 

A few patrons stared curiously as she emerged, her slender self-consciously patting at her faintly mussed pixie-cut. Already packed up, Connie was waiting expectantly by the door; they stepped out onto the boardwalk together, sun hidden behind cotton clouds. The gem wasn’t used to being out in the open at this time of the day - people milled about outside storefronts. One boy with wild blond curls was taking pictures on his phone, mumbling about vampires.

“I must say, this was an odd thing for you to do,” Pearl opined as they walked along, avoiding the boorish gazes of those around. “I’m not what you would refer to as ‘good company’, and you’re already capable of looking after yourself.”

“I wanted to talk to you,” the girl replied. “Besides which, it doesn’t look like you have very much fun. Am I wrong?”

“...No. You are not wrong.” 

Of course, Pearl had seen ‘Beach City Funland’ nearly daily for the past three years, but it was decidedly different in the light to the curving shadows and highlights of the night and moon. Pastel colours clashed with brighter hues. Towering metal structures carried screaming, laughing humans, all  _ smell _ and  _ light  _ and  _ smoke _ . The stench of the food almost made Pearl retch; yet, the small smile on Connie’s face made her hold it in. Even though it was a complete impossibility, the gem liked to imagine that she would be a good mother. Carer. Guardian. Whichever.

The noise only increased as they passed stalls decked out with sugar and carbohydrates, Connie running to buy a bag of popcorn and munching on it cheerfully. Momentarily the bag found itself under Pearl’s nose by way of offering; she pushed it back with a well-disguised shudder. 

Teacups span in the sky above them. “We should go on those!” Connie announced, going to pay before the gem had a chance to intervene. It slowed, lowering those already in it to the ground, and a cluster of dizzy but elated children departed and wobbled away to find another ride to play on. 

Giving in to her fate, the gem took a seat in a blue teacup, looking at the floor for the teapot - when there wasn’t one, she frowned. While the drink was a fairly recent discovery for her, she knew that you needed a teacup and teapot to properly indulge in the drink. Connie raised one eyebrow, door shutting. 

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for the tea. They seem to have forgotten it.” A loud rumble announced the start of the ride, honky-tonky tunes accompanying the juddery rise into the air and the slow spinning. 

The raised eyebrow became even more prominent, somehow. “You… you don’t have tea on the teacups. It’s just a style choice.” As though to outline the point, the cups began to spin faster, each one now turning independently. “It looks cute.”

“Yes, I was starting to get the feeling that I misunderstood the point of this ride.” Hands gripping the sides, the gem chuckled. “It’s rather fun! In an odd, slightly primitive way.”

This, for some reason, made Connie laugh very hard. Pleased to have amused her but bemused as to how, Pearl shook her head, watching the expressions of the families sat on the ride. Two mothers sat comfortably together as their son chattered elatedly; a single father looked distinctly bored, his own child tapping at their phone. Calmed, Connie was resting her head on the edge of the cup, hair whipping in the wind. Popcorn was dangerously close to spilling onto her lap; Pearl darted forward and held it upright. 

“Careful,” she chastised. 

“Yes, mom.” Connie rolled her eyes, but she smiled, watching as they slowed and returned to the tarmac. “I want a slushie… Do you think you could try one?”

“What is it?” Pearl raised an eyebrow at the vibrant machines that Connie pointed to, climbing out of the cup and wandering up to stare at the churning ice. “That looks disgusting.”

“It’s not, I promise! Try the red one.” After receiving a conservative nod from the gem, Connie ordered two, slurping cheerfully at it the moment the shopkeep put it on the counter. Apprehensive, Pearl grabbed her own, wrinkling her nose at the toxic colouring. She supped at it nervously - to her surprise, it wasn’t so bad. The sugar was overwhelming, but the flavouring was oddly addictive. 

“Passable,” she mumbled. “Was there anything else you wanted to do?”

They walked past the stalls for a short while, Connie playing whichever games took her fancy and winning surprisingly large toys. Coconuts sat like hats upon poles, waiting to be knocked down, and a ball found its way into Pearl’s hand. “You just knock one off -” Connie had informed her, watching in awe as the gem had veritably burned a hole into the stall with the speed of her throw. Neither of them particularly wanted a charred coconut as a prize so they left the owner to try and fix the damage.

Growing tired, the girl pointed out the ferris wheel. “One last thing,” she chirruped. “A few rotations on that. Beach city looks far nicer from above.”

Pearl didn’t question it, discreetly hiding their winnings in her gem while Connie wasn’t looking. They took a seat in a wobbly plastic booth, pulling a bar down for safety’s sake. It took a moment of shuffling for Connie to situate her bag properly, seat shaking as they were lifted up from the ground, travelling in reverse. 

“I like this best,” Pearl muttered, one arm hanging over the edge.

“I thought you would.” The young Maheswaran tapped at her knees. 

Conversation died at that. Gentle creaking sounded from the wheel, mixing with the increasingly muffled screams of the people below, stench of carnival food lessening the higher they climbed. The whistling of the wind grew. 

As they crested the top of the ferris wheel, Connie looked over. “You’re not human.” 

It wasn’t a question. “No.”

“What are you, then?”

“I’m a pearl.” It was such a simple answer, with so many implications that the girl would never be able to grasp. A pearl. One of many. A pearl, an accessory with a brain and no concept of self-reliance - until now, of course. There was some pride in that, and Pearl couldn’t help smiling softly. “I’m an alien.”

Nodding, the girl looked out over the ocean, sunlight dappled across its darkening surface. “I guessed that. But why are you here? Alone? Are you the last one?”

“Oh, no. There are billions of gems in universe. I just so happened to be a member of a rebellion, here on earth. I’m stuck here.” There seemed no harm in telling the truth. If Connie wasn’t asking the questions, it would be Sadie. Maybe Lars, even. It was inevitable; Pearl saw that now. “My leader wanted to protect your planet, so we fought against our own kind.”

“You won?” 

Pearl laughed, roughly. “That’s debatable.”

Again, the human stared sidewards as they dipped down towards the ground, pulling round for the last rotation. In spite of the bustle of the theme park, there was a certain silence, a gentle pink cape of contentment that draped itself easily over the city. 

“I’m sorry that you were alone.” Connie shuffled her bag to sit on her lap. “Nobody should be alone. It has an appalling effect on your mental health.”

“Don’t I know it,” Pearl mumbled, and then chuckled at how dire it sounded. “It’s been thousands of years since the war, and I’m more than used to being alone. Besides which, there have been other people. I watched humanity grow. I travelled. I continued what had to be done.”

“Thousands?” To a twelve year old, such an age was barely comprehensible. “It must have been fascinating to watch. I’m sure days seem like such an insignificant thing to you.”

“They used to feel like nothing,” the gem replied carefully. “Not so much anymore. And yes, it was fascinating. The people I met! Shakespeare, Marie Antoinette, the founding fathers - I had a helping hand in creating Beach City, you know? Dewey was an absolutely useless man. His lineage hasn’t much improved, if I may say that, but it has been satisfying to see this town grow.” She found that they were cresting the ferris wheel again, twilight rapidly gathering in the sky. To her side, Connie was failing to hide a grin.

“You’ll have to tell me the full story sometime,” she giggled.

“Of course.” Pearl felt oddly mollified. “And anything else, I suppose.”

“Don’t offer that, or I’ll ask every question I possibly can. Speaking of which -” 

Connie waited for their seat to reach the ground again, clambering out and clutching her bag close. Pearl joined her and they walked back towards the diner. “Speaking of which, Pearl… would you be my friend?”

Surprised, Pearl glanced down. Connie appeared entirely serious, staring hard at the wooden boards with a taut little smile. “Your… friend?”

“I don’t have any.” The words were blurted out at top speed. “Not at school, anyway. The only people I have are Sadie and Lars, and they’re teenagers. They’ll be moving on soon; they won’t have the time to deal with a kid like me. I’m not mature enough. So I just thought that you’d be a nice friend. You’re different.”

“Different how?” Pearl wondered when she had last spoken so gently.

Sighing, Connie went and sat on the edge of the boardwalk, kicking her legs carefully against the sand. Aware of the time, the gem sat with her. 

“You don’t have any expectations. You’re not like humans, because you didn’t grow up with an idea of what people should be. Most kids look at me and all they see is a huge nerd, some antisocial four-eyes who is no fun to be around.”

Pearl glanced over, partially wishing she could retreat from this new maternal role she seemed to have appropriated, partially willing to help. An idea emerged from the fog. “Would you like to see something, Connie?” Confused, the girl nodded. Looking up and down the boardwalk, Pearl checked to see that the coast was clear (it was) and reached up to her gem. With a careful direction of thought, slender fingers clasped onto a gleaming white spear, gem glimmering and glowing gratefully. The spear formed fully; she pulled it out, holding it fondly. 

“What is that?” Connie whispered, mesmerised.

“My weapon. All of my people have one. Differing kinds, naturally, but this is mine.” Pearl pushed the blunt end towards the girl. “Would you like to hold it?”

Frantically nodding, Connie took the chilled end of the spear, running her hand over the perfectly smooth handle, finger tracing along the razor sharp curls right up to the deadly point. Standing, she brandished it clumsily, laughing. “It’s incredible! I’ve never seen anything like it!” After a few swipes, it dissipated, leaving the girl both bereft and stunned. “Oh, it’s gone -!”

“Don’t worry, I can make as many as I want. And does that answer your question?”

“...You will be my friend?”

“Of course. You’re by far one of the most astute children I have met, and I spent some time with Mozart himself.” Pushing herself up from the boards, Pearl brushed down her jeans and stretched. “We should probably return before we worry your parents. Oh, and -” Pearl quickly pulled out the collection of winnings from inside her gem. “These are yours.”

The Maheswarans were thankfully absent from the diner despite the late hour, the only presence being Sadie. She was sat at the table, sipping pensively at a coffee, and smiled as the pair returned. “Have a nice time?”

“Indeed we did,” Pearl answered. “Very enlightening.”

“Are you going to tell her?” Connie looked up through innocent glasses.

Under Sadie’s confused stare, the gem sighed. “It would be prudent, I suppose.” She coughed. “Well. Sadie, I am an ancient alien.I fought to save this planet in a war millenia ago, and as such am a traitor to my own kind. I have been stuck on earth ever since, trying to return home.” She paused, smiling faintly. “How was that?”

Stifling laughter, Connie looked at a car pulling up outside. “Amazing. Well, my dad is here! See you tomorrow.” Giving Pearl a split-second hug around the waist, she pushed her glasses up and practically ran through the door. “Thank you for everything!”

There was a second of silence.

“An alien?”

“Yes. An alien.”

“And that pearl -”

“Is quite literally me. This body is simply a projection made by the pearl. That is why I don’t eat, if you were curious.”

For half a second, Sadie looked fearful. Then a shadow of a smile flitted across her features. “But you’ll drink tea?”

“Tea is different. It’s not as heavy.” Pearl watched as Sadie grabbed her bag, turning the shop lights off as she grabbed her phone. The blue light cast soft shadows across her rounded features. 

“My mom is here. Are you ready?”

Pearl shrugged, arms out. “This is all I have.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Allowing the gem to walk ahead, Sadie locked the diner behind her, checking thrice that the door held properly. “And I’d guessed that you weren’t human. I saw something blue come out of the pearl when you were asleep one morning.”

“Ah, that was a hologram. One of the many things my gem can do.” A surprising streak of pride ran through her at that thought. 

“You’ll have to show me sometime.” Sadie hailed down a medium sized car, running to open the passenger seat door. Barbara waved widely.

“Come on in, honey pie! And hallo there! You must be Pearl. Take a seat in the back - don’t mind the plushies, they’re just for my craft classes.”

Apprehensive, Pearl clambered into the back, pressed between a mountain of plushies and the car door. Barbara seemed the type of human with endless altruism and no indoor voice; harmless, kind, but absolutely impossible to talk to. Bears of every pastel colour stared endlessly at the gem, soulless button eyes prying further and further into her. The scent of cheap air freshener stung at her nose. 

“So, Pearl.” Barbara had finished grilling Sadie about work and now swung her cheery demeanor to the back of the car, where it was very much not wanted. “How are you doing? I heard about your predicament - sleeping rough, must have been so difficult for you! Mind you, my Sadie was never one to let that kind of thing slide, eh Sadie?”

“No, mom. I guess not.” Blushing cheeks were reflected in the car mirrors. 

Pearl glared down a pink bunny plushie, almost forgetting to respond. “Ah, uhm, I am very well, thank you for asking. It wasn’t as bad as you would think. Uncomfortable, certainly, but I don’t need that much comfort.”

“Well, that’s certainly good!” Barbara gave a booming bark of laughter. “The spare room isn’t anythin’ to look at! Better than the diner, mind, and that’s what matters.”

Pearl tried very hard not to regret agreeing to it and smiled feebly. “Thank you very much.”

“You’re very welcome. Do you mind music?”

“Oh no, not at all.” It was a welcome relief; while Pearl would normally despise the tripe that came from the radio most days - what had happened to classical music? - it was far easier to wince through it than to make conversation. 

‘ _ I can’t help it if I make a scene -’ _

Pearl actually knew this one. She tapped her foot in time to the beat and noticed Sadie mouthing the words. 

They pulled up to a surprisingly comfortable house. Barbara took a moment to stuff the bears into bags, throwing one at Sadie before running up to open the door. “After you, dearie,” she said, teeth gritted around the key. “It’s no palace, as I say, but it’s home. For as long as you need it.”

As she had expected, the interior was simple. Cozy. The entryway smelt almost overpoweringly of cinnamon and dust, coat stand guarding the front door. A sofa was visible through the door to the right, and a tidy kitchen waited to the left. Pearl entered, rubbing at her arm. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been in a proper house. It felt awfully… big.

“Your room is up the stairs,” Sadie offered, taking the gem by the arm and leading her along. “I do warn you, it’s not been used in a long while, and it’s - you’ll see.”

The words that Sadie had been searching for were ‘a downright mess.’ Flicking the lightswitch on, she revealed a small room, cluttered with boxes and letters. A singular furby sat at their feet. Even sideways, it’s relentless marble eyes appeared oddly malevolent, and Pearl immediately picked it up and propped it in Sadie’s arms. The bed, at least, was decently sized and covered with a very simple white duvet. Three shelves boasted the same unvarnished oak as the bedside table. 

Pearl was seized by a familiar, almost nostalgic desire for  _ order. _

Remnant of her servitude or not, the feeling was absolutely overwhelming, and she was itching to clear the mess. “Thank you very much, Sadie. This is more than adequate.”

“No need to thank me, it was my mom’s idea. I guess you’re pretty tired, so I’ll leave you to it.” Waving one arm shyly, Sadie walked out and shut the door. 

Pearl stared at the challenge presented to her, gem tickling with an anticipatory glow. 

***

_ Rose ran her fingers through Pearl’s hair, humming quietly. The smaller gem was curled up against Rose’s front, taking in the perfect scent of flowers and oceans. The thicket that they were hiding in managed to betray none of the madness beyond. _

_ “Are you ready to fight, my love?” Rose sounded even more gentle than normal.  _

_ “It’s just another day.” Pearl replied, tracing circles into the arms of her lover. “Just another battle. Of course, I’m as ready as I always am. Always for you.” _

_ “Oh, my Pearl.” It was a soft laugh. “I have a good feeling about it. Homeworld is so close to falling back, I think we may just save the earth after all.” _

_ “We’re still thin on the ground. Our troops… I daresay we only have the fusion and the kindergarteners left unshattered. Perhaps a few older warriors.” The circles travelled down to Rose’s palm, where Pearl rested her hands demurely. “I know that the enemy is similarly depleted, but…” _

_ “We can win this,” the larger gem hushed, kissing Pearl gently. “I know we can. If Garnet has taught us anything, it’s that we can be powerful together.” _

_ A smaller quartz ran through, disturbing the peace, and the final battle began. Rose Quartz summoned her shield and drew her sword for the last time.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHO ISN'T DEAD
> 
> I'm not even going to comment on how long it's been. Have some Connie and Pearl time! I apologise if this is somewhat different to the rest of the fic, or seems out of date, but it's honestly been so many months since I last wrote that I can barely get back into the mindset at the time. Hopefully all the characters seem relatively consistent to before!
> 
> Thanks to those of you who have still been commenting despite my inactivity <3


End file.
